Kids Are A Joy
by edwardandbella4evah
Summary: The sequel to Courtney's Pregnant. Courtney and Duncan are trying to raise their kids in the best ways possible. Will they make it?
1. The wedding

**This sequel is based on when each of the kids are one and a half. I totally forgot to add the wedding on the other story so I'm adding it now. Have fun reading this one! P.S. there is a sequel to this sequel too….eventually…**

I looked adoringly one more time at my dress, currently hidden in the very back of my closet.

I sighed, tomorrow was the big day after one and a half years of waiting. Well, it was supposed to be earlier, but it kept on getting delayed. A lot has been happening over the last year.

Ok, I'll admit it, I wanted to wait until I got my figure completely back from having the twins.

Speaking of the twins I glanced at Alex, who was currently on Duncan and mine's bed sitting up with a curious expression on her face. Our kids were the quiet ones, unless they needed anything.

Duncan had proved to be a great father, supporting me and by my side and everything.

I waltzed over to our bed, the bridal song floating around in my head. I picked Alex up and began talking to her, my latest hobby.

"Oh Alex, it's going to be so wonderful! Your daddy is going to be so handsome, and your brother too. Oh and your dress too, it's pink and has flowers on it and you're going to look so adorable!"

She glanced at me as if to say, 'you must be joking.'

Alex doesn't like girly things much, she does like dark colors…especially black. Same with her brother, except he isn't much of a problem, Duncan does all the shopping for him. Duncan keeps pestering me to let Alex get her ears pierced now, but I think she's too young.

Our babies are the most adorable babies ever. I cant wait until they learn to walk and talk. I've been trying to teach them, but none of them have learned it yet.

I sighed, picked up Alex and snuggled her to my chest.

"I can't wait until tomorrow. Duncan and I will finally officially be married."

Alex's little baby face scrunched as if she was trying to figure out what I was saying. "Dah?"

I smiled at her understanding. "Yes, your daddy, can you say daddy?"

She smiled and squealed. "Dah!"

I sighed and rubbed her head, "good enough."

"Hey Princess, can you stop hogging my daughter? Its daddy's turn now."

I looked up to the doorway where Duncan was smirking, Devon squirming in his arms.

"She's my daughter too you know."

He came over and took Alex out of my arms and replaced her with a waiting Devon.

"Not anymore, now it's daddy's turn."

I smiled and cuddled Devon to my chest. Like I said, Duncan is so sweet with the twins.

"I'll make you a deal, if Alex can walk towards me with you helping her, you get her for the day."

I smirked, he knew I liked a good deal. "Deal."

I stood up and took Alex from his hands. Duncan got up and kneeled in front of the doorway. I stood Alex up and held her hands. I tried to walk her over a bit before I let go and let her try it for herself.

She lasted about three seconds standing before she fell on her back. Her lips quivered and she let out a piercing cry that ached my heart. As soon as Devon heard his twin crying, he cried too, but not as loud.

Duncan pulled Alex into his arms and started consoling her before smirking and saying, "I win."

I sighed and took Devon in my arms and rocked him back and forth for a bit before he calmed down.

We weren't the best parents, but we're getting there.

**DUNCANXCOURTNEYDUNCANXCOURTNEYDUNCANXCOURTNEYDUNCANXCOURTNEYDUNCANXCOURTNEYDUNCANXCOURTNEYDUNCANXCOURTNEYDUNCANXCOURTNEY**

I looked at myself in the mirror and almost cried.

The white dress, elegant hair, flowing veil and flowers… was this really happening?

I considered myself the luckiest girl in the world.

Bridgette strolled over to where I was sitting and put her hands on my shoulders. "It's almost time Courtney."

I got up and got ready to go down the alter before a thought struck me

. I was supposed to walk down the alter by myself. All alone, without my father, the thought almost put me to tears.

'get a grip Courtney, he didn't want you anymore, he neglected your children and your husband to be. He is out of your life now.'

"You're right, I can do this!"

When it was time I walked down the altar, smiling but a little nervous. But all nervousness faded when I saw Duncan. Smiling, but looking handsome indeed, even in a Mohawk which clashed with the whole wedding.

I walked up and he held my hand, with a strong, firm grip. We listened to the vows and said the right words. Nothing interesting happened until I said "I do."

Duncan leaned down and kissed me so fiercely I didn't notice anyone in the audience until I heard a sharp "ma!"

We both turned around and took our kids out of Duncan's parent's hands, who had shown up to the wedding, due to Duncan allowing his family to be in his, mine and the twin's lives. Duncan had taken Alex, and I Devon, we accepted all the congrats and blessings with gratitude.

The reception party had passed by quickly. The twins enjoyed all their aunts and uncles being there. We had invited the whole TDI cast to the wedding, including Chris and chef. Strangely enough, Heather had taken a liking to Alex, cooing to her and calling her adorable. Chris had tried to convince us to let the kids compete in a series called Total Drama Preschool in the works, but we wouldn't hear of it, in the end he gave up and went to go bug some of the other ex-contestants.

The rest of the wedding was a blur until the very end, after we had gotten home and tucked the kids in bed. We both crawled into our big bed. And after some "fun" we fell asleep, until a loud cry woke us both up in the middle of the night.

"Let's go Duncan…"

"mmkay…."

We both got up tiredly, I put my robe on and he his sweatpants, and headed to the twin's room where we saw Alex crying.

I lifted her out of her crib and rocked her. "mama…."

My eyes, which were slowly drooping, bolted up. "did she just say…?"

"yeah…"

I smiled and kissed Alex's head and gently rocked her to sleep. After Duncan and I had gotten into bed I snuggled up against him and began talking.

"Duncan?"

"Hmm…?"

"Thank you…for everything….the kids, the wedding, everything."

I could almost feel him smirk. "Just go to sleep Princess."

I smiled and I did against Duncan's chest.


	2. Christmas

Time was passing by fast.

Before we knew it, it was a couple days before Christmas. The twins were growing up so fast and learning so much.

"Dada!"

The squeal of Alex talking almost made me want to cry. Alex was picking up on talking so fast, I cant say the same for Devon though. He was trying as hard as he could, but he couldn't even say mama yet.

"Alex, tell daddy merry Christmas."

Duncan was trying to get Alex to say "merry Christmas" before Christmas. Since Christmas is in three days, I don't think it will work.

"Ma!"

As I was saying, Devon tried to compete with his sister in the best ways that he could. I shifted my attention to the child in my arms.

"yes, sweetie I heard you, try saying mama, or dada."

Devon looked like he was trying really hard to concentrate before he answered with, "mammy."

I was pretty sure my whole face lit up with delight. "Did you hear that Duncan, Devon said mommy!"

Duncan smiled and bounced Alex in his arms. "Did you hear that Alex? You and Devon are in competition now!"

It seemed like Alex understood because next thing we know she's whimpering and crying. Devon didn't make a noise the whole time, he just smiled.

"Duncan, maybe it's about time we put them down for a nap? My arms are exhausted."

He nodded and we proceeded to the twins room, and we put them both down. Duncan wrapped his arms around me and chuckled.

"It seems like the twins have inherited your competitive side. Who would have thought it?"

I scoffed, though it did seem true. "Oh please, they'll grow out of it."

Duncan smirked and nodded towards the closet in the hallway. "I think it's about time to put up the tree and gifts, don't you?"

I nodded and helped him take the tree and decorations out of the closet. After about two hours, it was finally finished, with decorations and gifts and everything. Okay, so it took another hour due to the ahem, kissing.

Once we showed the twins the tree, there was some warm hypnotism in the household. The fireplace was on, and Duncan and I were lounging with the twins in front of us on the carpet. Alex was busily gazing at the lights, and kept trying to get ahold of them before Duncan pulled her closer to him.

"Yes Alex, they are pretty lights."

"Petty?"

"Yes, pretty." Devon angrily squealed less than a foot away, mad that his sister accomplished another word without him knowing.

I caught along in their game and decided to help Devon just a little. "Devon, can you say merry Christmas?"

Devon concentrated and managed to say, "mewy kismas."

Oh my, I didn't think it would work that well… Alex started crying just as I had expected, before Duncan took her in his arms and consoled her.

"Our kids sure are something, aren't they?"

I sighed and ran my hands through my hair. I faced Devon and was about to tell him something, as if I expected him to understand.

"Listen, you guys are both special, but it isn't a contest to see who can talk faster. Mommy and daddy both love you very much, no matter if you can say the whole English and French language, or if you cant say anything at all."

I turned away and almost laughed at myself. As if I expected a toddler to understand what I was saying.

But hey, I could be surprised. It was my son and daughter after all.

**COURTNEYXDUNCANCOURTNEYXDUNCANCOURTNEYXDUNCANCOURTNEYXDUNCANCOURTNEYXDUNCANCOURTNEYXDUNCANCOURTNEYXDUNCAN**

"Mama!" I turned over in bed unwilling to get up.

"c'mon, lets try harder to get mommy to wake up."

I felt a bump next to where my stomach was. If I wasn't so tired I would have bolted up.

"I'm not pregnant again, am I?"

I squinted my eyes just a bit to see Duncan's reaction. He smirked and I saw that Devon was the one placed next to my stomach.

"No you aren't, unless you want to…?"

"Not in this lifetime."

"Come on Courtney wake up , its Christmas, we want to open presents."

At that time both twins chimed, "cwistmas!"

I sighed and put my robe on, then took Alex out of Duncan's reluctant hands. He took Devon in his arms and we headed downstairs.

"That's strange Duncan, usually I'm the one to wake you up on Christmas. You hate getting up on Christmas."

Flashback.

_"Duncan get up!"_

_ A seventeen year old Courtney was literally jumping on a seemingly sleeping Duncan, telling him to get up. _

_"No." _

_Courtney wasn't taking no for an answer, it was Christmas for gods sake! She wanted to open that tempting, big pile of presents under the tree. _

_"It's Christmas Duncan!" _

_"Bah humbug…"_

_ Courtney got off of him, only to get a head start to jump on him again. She gently put her lips to his cheek, and began kissing him._

_ "Please get up," she said in a dangerous tone. _

_Duncan couldn't resist it when she used that tone of voice, he had to get up. _

_"What did Princess want Santa to get her for Christmas?" _

_She pouted but answered, "you."_

_ Duncan scoffed and pulled her into his embrace. "You already have me."_

_ "Forever?"_

_ Duncan nodded and agreed. "Forever."_

End Flashback.

Duncan nodded, the early memories probably coming back into his head. He then smiled and simply replied, "it's the first real Christmas the kids will remember."

I nodded and kissed Alex on the head. She looked especially adorable today, her black hair in two pigtails. "How on earth did she let you-"

"Hey, lets just say we have a special bond."

I snorted and said, "Special bond my butt. It took you awhile didn't it?"

He looked sheepish, but grinned. "yeah."

We set the kids under the Christmas tree and proceeded to open presents. Alex and Devon were happy just ripping apart the wrapping paper. Duncan beckoned towards the severed wrapping paper and said, "jeez, if I'd known that, I wouldn't have spent all this money on presents."

I pecked him on the nose. "You don't mean that."

I did notice that my present supply was very small this year. I was kind of hurt, did Duncan care about the twins so much, he forgot to buy me any presents? My question was resolved when the twins had fallen asleep on the couch and me and Duncan were alone, side by side.

"Courtney, there's one more present under the tree."

I peered forward and saw a small box under the tree. I slowly opened it and gasped.

"Merry Christmas Princess."

It was one of those cheesy diamond necklaces you always saw on those Christmas commercials.

I leaned forward and passionately kissed him. "Maybe I will reconsider having more kids…"


	3. School Blues

New years came and went in the blink of an eye.

Courtney's been acting strange along with the new year…

_Flashback._

_ "Hey Courtney, can you believe that the twins will be going to school in a few years?" _

_Courtney was currently eating her breakfast quietly but her eyes seemed to fill with tears at the word school._

_ "Yeah, school… great…I'm not that hungry anymore…" Courtney halfheartedly threw her dishes on the counter before dashing upstairs. _

_Duncan knew something was wrong then, because Courtney would always clean her dishes and put them away before going off to do anything else._

_ Duncan hurriedly finished feeding the twins, put them in their playpen and hurriedly went upstairs to check on Courtney._

_ The door was halfway open so Duncan quietly peered in. Courtney was on the floor, clutching her knees to her chest, sobbing. Duncan rushed to her aid and let her push him away before clutching onto him sobbing._

_ All Duncan could think of was 'what did I say?'_

_ End flashback_.

I think it all started after Bridgette had called her last week. Something about Bridgette loving college and becoming a marine biologist and all that cruddy education stuff…

I walked around the house tiredly. Stupid food cravings at ten o' clock woke me up…I walked past the fridge tiredly, but not before catching Courtney on the computer, gazing dreamily at the screen before her. I wheeled around to get another look but she closed the site before I could see.

"What were you looking at?"

She stumbled and got up hastily before stuttering, "nothing!"

"You weren't looking at porn, were you? That would explain the dreamy look in your eyes."

"Shut it!"

We were interrupted by a loud wail coming from the direction of the twins room. Courtney took it as a perfect opportunity to escape, and dashed upstairs in a flash.

Curiously I went back to the internet and checked the browsing history. I found the site she was looking at in a flash. Ha, thought she could stop me, shows what she knows about us ex-delinquents.

As soon as I clicked on the page, sorrow flooded my body, inside and out. It was the Harvard website. So she wanted to go back to school, yet she couldn't…because of the kids.

Well I got her screwed and I got her parents to cancel her tuition, so clearly I had to be the one to make it up to her…but how?

It was still on my mind when I trudged upstairs and threw myself into bed. I heard muffled squeaking noises against her pillow, and a small shaking against her side of the bed. I pulled her over into my arms and stroked her hair gently.

"Courtney, I know what's wrong…"

She looked up at me with tear streaked eyes. "I want to go back to school! Its not f-fair! I was the one that was supposed to go off to a great college!"

Courtney wailed into my arms so hard, I thought she would burst.

"Listen babe, sometimes things just don't go the way you want them. I was thinking of a solution for that. What if you finished high school? Then we could register you for college in the fall. I'm sure you could catch up fast, you're a good student."

She sniffled against my arms and said, "do you really think that would work?"

"Sure, anything can happen. You deserve to go to college."

Every time I say that word it makes me want to hurl. How could someone want to go for more education?

"Thank you Duncan, I love you." Courtney snuggled closer into my chest before falling asleep. I sighed, I was so good.

I would have fallen asleep, but about half an hour later I heard her crying again. If I couldn't make her stop before, there was nothing I could do now except to pull her into my arms and rub her back.

I caught one thing she said before going completely unconscious.

"I want to go to Harvard, I wish I would've gone."

**COURTNEYXDUNCANCOURTNEYXDUNCANCOURTNEYXDUNCANCOURTNEYXDUNCANCOURTNEYXDUNCANCOURTNEYXDUNCANCOURTNEYXDUNCAN**

"Umm Courtney, I know we are best friends, but could you please GET OFF OF ME!"

I quickly sprang up and examined the room. Unfamiliar classic colors on the walls, and an orderly room greeted me.

"Sorry, Heather."

Wait Heather?! Where did that come from?! She pushed me off of her bed and I fell and hurt myself.

"Oww, where am I?"

She looked at me like I was crazy. "We're in our dorm room silly. You know, in Harvard?"

I sprang up and smiled. "I'm in Harvard!?"

Heather stared at me as if I was from another planet. "Uh, yeah…"

I scanned the room quickly. Certificates of accomplishments that I couldn't remember. No clothes scattered around the room like I had remembered. Everything was spick and span just the way I liked it.

For a minute I considered jumping for joy and singing but then something suddenly struck me.

I looked down and examined myself. My hair was really long again, reaching to my waist, instead of down in layers to my midback. I went to the mirror and realized my 18 year old figure was back.

"Uh, are you done examining yourself? Have you become anorexic or something? Come on, we have to get going, our boyfriends are waiting for us downstairs."

"Duncan's here?"

Heather scoffed. "As if! Why would you still consider remembering that pathetic imbecile? Justin is here along with Noah, you know for our date?"

I was pretty sure I froze in my tracks. "Justin? Wait what happened with Duncan?"

Heather scoffed and scowled. "How could you not remember? He knocked you up, so you put a restraining order on him."

"What? Wait, where are Devon and Alex?"

Heather looked confused and said, "who?"

"My babies?!"

"You aborted them, what is up with you today? I feel like I'm talking to Lindsay again!"

I…aborted…my…babies…Duncan's…babies…I don't believe it!

"Where's Duncan?!"

I quickly threw some unfamiliar skirt and blouse on and some high heels. I was so fast, by the time Heather answered I was already getting to work on my hair.

"He tried to convince you not to abort the rugrats, so he moved into some ratty apartment two blocks away from here. I doubt he's still there. Wait, where are you going?!"

I was out the door in a flash. "To find Duncan!"

She rushed after me, looking mildly confused. "But what about our double date!"

I stopped in my tracks and smacked her hard across the face. "Screw it, and don't _ever_ call my babies rugrats again!"

I left her there, looking bewildered and rushed towards the nearest taxi I could find. I nearly killed myself looking for one, and threw myself in it. I thrust a $50 at the driver and he sped off.

I rushed out of the car, and asked the receptionist if Duncan was still here. Luck was with me, he was. I hurried upstairs and was exhausted by the time I reached the door. I pounded on it and when he opened it I literally fell into his arms.

He dropped me abruptly and I had to stand myself up. He glared at me with such hard, cold eyes, I had to wonder what I had ever did to him. I scanned him up and down, I hardly recognized him anymore. Besides the fact that he looked meaner than ever, his piercings were gone along with any trace of green or a Mohawk.

"What do you want? Come to screw my life even more?"

I was appalled, had I really ruined our lives that bad?

"No, I just came to…oh what happened Duncan? What happened to you, to us?!"

"Oh, I'll tell you what happened, you got screwed, so you got really pissed at me. I tried to talk you out of it, but you slapped me and put a restraining order on me. You decided that your perfect life would be better without me and kids. I hope your stupid school was worth it."

I did that? But I don't remember… "No, Duncan, please I didn't mean-"

"Can it sister, just leave me alone, my life has already been better without you.."

He slammed the door in my face, and I slid down and wallowed in my sorrow. I pulled my knees to my chest and sobbed like I had never had before. I had ruined it all, my life, my relationship, everything. I sniffled and wondered if it actually _was_ worth it.

I didn't come up for another hour, but when I did it shocked me. I was in a bed, and the room was familiar in a way. I sprang up and looked around, clothes on the floor, barely anything in order.

A smile came upon my face as I examined myself. I was thin, but not super thin, and my hair was layered again and reaching my midback.

I scanned the room, but no sign of Duncan was there. I ran around the house and saw the twins sleeping quietly in their beds, in their room. I would've smothered them in kisses, but they looked so peaceful sleeping there I couldn't do it.

I looked around the house for any sign of Duncan, but I couldn't find any. I slumped back into my room and slid down the wall, I couldn't make it any further.

I cried and cried and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't cry my self out. I couldn't get Duncan's face out of my mind.

I cried until I heard heavy footsteps. "Princess, are you okay? What happened? Are you still upset about the school thing, I told you I could fix that!"

He lifted me up in his arms and snuggled me close to his chest.

I lifted my face up and I saw the one thing, that my heart really needed.

I pulled him into such a kiss, that he fell backward and I fell on top of him.

"Duncan! You're back!"

I strangled him and wouldn't let go, not for the world. "Whoa, Princess, why the sudden neediness?"

"I love you, so so so much. I wouldn't change anything that had happened, not for the world."

"Not even Harvard?"

"Especially not for Harvard."

Duncan looked at me confusedly but shook his head and laughed.

"Duncan?"

"Yeah Princess?"

"Hold me tighter please." If Duncan was shocked or confused, he didn't let on. He just he'd me tighter like I asked.

"What happened while you were asleep?"

I smiled and buried my head in his chest. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

I was about to start telling him, but then a yawn came over me and I had to try and suppress it, but with no avail.

"C'mon babe, lets get you back in bed."

I nodded and he gently laid me in bed. He let me go for a quick second, but it scared me so much I held on to him tighter when he was settled.

"That must have been some crazy dream you had."

I nodded and said, "you don't know the half of it. Duncan one more thing?"

"Yeah?"

"Never let me go, in all ways."

He laughed and agreed. "Never."


	4. Babysitting

**Hi u guys, sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I've been busy!! I need you guys to do me a favor! You see I have this other story called overboard but another person co-wrote it with me!! And she's been kinda upset that only 6 people reviewed, so could u check it out for her and give triplethreatbitch credit please!! I think you'll like the story too!!**

Months flew by, the twins second birthday passed by quickly without much looking back.

Before we knew it, it was September and Courtney got her exam grades back. Of course she passed and got accepted back into high school easily, she had to take double periods though. One around twelve in the afternoon, and then she goes back from eight until ten thirty at night.

I even had to take some time off from my job, like a long time. And I was about to get promoted too.

Life is a drag…

**COURTNEYXDUNCANCOURTNEYXDUNCANCOURTNEYXDUNCANCOURTNEYXDUNCANCOURTNEYXDUNCANCOURTNEYXDUNCANCOURTNEYXDUNCANCOURTNEYXDUNCAN**

Courtney glanced nervously one more time at the twins playing in their playpen before I turned her head towards me so I could look her directly in the eye.

"Courtney, they'll be fine. Don't you trust me?"

She rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Not in the least."

I chuckled before noticing the scared expression in her eyes. "I'm not so sure Duncan, maybe this isn't such a good idea. It'll be all strange not having my babies next to me all day."

" They aren't needy babies anymore, besides I'll be here."

She still looked doubtful and her arms goose bumped at the thought. I rubbed her upper arms and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"Don't you want to go to college?"

"Yes, but it's been so lo-"

"One baby step at a time. What happened to my raging little CIT?" Courtney turned around and that old, familiar glint of competition came to her eye.

"Your right! I can do this!" She was about to march out the door, but not before I pulled her into my arms once more.

"You'll be home right before dinner, right?" She nodded happily, before her expression dropped a little.

"I'll only be home for a few before I have to go to night school."

" I know. Now Courtney, don't go falling for any of those cheap high school guys."

She rolled her eyes and smiled at me. " Why would I do that? I have my knight in shining armor when I come home."

" The one and only." She kissed my head before completely vanishing out the door. I turned around and sighed for a moment before I felt someone jump on my back. I turned around and Courtney gave me a rough, passionate kiss on my lips.

"I almost forgot, I love you Duncan."

"I love you too, now don't go being late on the first day."

She looked at me as if I was kicking her out of the house. "Courtney go, have fun. We'll be okay."

She nodded and headed out to the car. As soon as the front door slammed, two cries were what greeted me. I rushed toward the playpen and picked both of the twins up and cradled them in my arms.

After ten minutes, there was only some soft whimpers and sniffles. "Mama gowwn?"

" Mommy went to school."

"Waaay?"

"Just cause, want to play with daddy?"

I put them both on the floor and I turned my back for a minute to get one of their toys. I turned back around and both of the twins were gone. I searched everywhere for them, but I couldn't find them.

"Alex? Devon? Where are you!?"

How far could they have gone!? They cant even walk! Or can they….? I searched again under Courtney and mine's bed when I heard a loud squeal coming from the next room. He, I got them now. They thought they could be so devious, but now I have them.

I slid into the next room and widened my eyes in shock. They weren't there! I heard faint giggling from another room in the house. Those little devils, but hey, they learned from their father. Urrgh, this is so unfair, they're two!

"This is not funny you guys, stop fooling and come out!"

"Kay!' I felt two thuds against my leg and looked down. There they were, smiling up at me.

"Hi daddy!"

"Fun game!"

I smiled and picked them up, glad that they were found before Courtney found out that I lost them.

"No, not fun, how's about we do lunch now, okay?"

I went to the kitchen and put both the kids into their high chairs. I glanced at the clock and cursed in my head. It was four. Two hours until Courtney gets home.

What do I do now? If I give the babies lunch now, they wont be hungry for dinner, and Courtney will get suspicious. But if I don't they'll start crying, and well that's not good.

Ah, what the heck?

I set aside ingredients for dinner, and took out some of the baby food from the cupboard. Feeding them was a challenge alone. Usually Courtney took Alex, and I Devon and they would eat, and we'd finish in ten minutes tops. Now, its almost been an hour, and the kitchen, the twins, and I are filthy.

Hurriedly, I checked the clock again. Oh god, only an hour left! I turned the stove on and put some water in. Then, I dashed upstairs with the twins and hurriedly washed them, put some clothes on them and laid them down for a nap. Thank god, they fell asleep quickly, probably due to all the food they ate.

I remembered the stove was on, and I went down to the kitchen. Just as I was putting some pasta in and letting it boil, I heard a sharp knock on the door.

"Just a minute Court!"

I went to the mirror and groaned at how I currently looked. My shirt was a mess, and so was my face, but my hair was the worst. I tried brushing through it, but I gave up and decided to open the door.

"Hey Court, how was school."

Courtney was happy, you could clearly see the difference one day of school has made in her. She brought her hand up to my hair and my eyes nervously followed her hand, hoping she wouldn't come to any rational conclusions. She picked off a piece of pasta that must have fallen on my head from the box.

"I'd tell you, but I'd like to know what happened with you and the twins first."

She brought her hand down to my cheek and came closer to kiss me. I gratefully complied, knowing that she would probably drop it if I kissed her hard enough. It did work until I heard an annoying beeping noise getting louder by the minute

. Courtney paused, trying to catch her breath. "Duncan…do…you smell…something…burning?"

"I forgot! The pasta!" I rushed to the kitchen with Courtney on my tail, running right behind me.

I realized the pasta was only scorched on the bottom so I put more water in and stirred it. I turned back around to face Courtney, but she was in shock.

"What…happened…to…my kitchen!"

She wailed so loud I had to cover my ears. "Courtney, lets calm down now, I'll clean it up, I promise!"

She looked menacingly at me and it sent chills down my back. She was kind of scary when she was mad, but on the other hand it was really sexy.

"You better."

A loud cry made us both jump out of our reveries. She walked quickly towards the nursery mumbling something about, "I leave for a few hours, and when I return, my house is a mess!"

I followed her up the stairs with me trying to apologize. She entered the room and gingerly picked up Devon, and I took Alex, who tried to squirm out of my arms.

"Mama!"

"Hey baby, how was it while mommy was gone?" She shot me a dirty glare and I winced.

"Fun! Dada pwayed game wit us!" She smiled at Alex and took her out of my tired arms.

"Good, for you. Dinner's ready soon, I'll come get you okay?"

"Kay! Bye mommy, I luv you daddy!" I had to smile, that little devil sure was something.

Courtney headed down to make us a normal dinner before she had to go back to class. I snuck quietly behind her and grabbed her waist and threw her over my shoulders.

"Duncan! Put me down!"

"I'll consider it after you forgive me."

"Never."

"Fine, your choice then. I wonder if your brand new straightening iron would fancy the brand new trash can filled with the glorious trash from today."

I felt her stiffen against my shoulder. I knew that trick would work. "You wouldn't dare."

I scoffed. "Courtney now think again, you most defiantly know I would."

She pounded my back hard when I started heading towards the bathroom.

"Okay! I forgive you! don't touch the iron!"

"Now say Duncan is the hottest thing since Justin, only hotter."

I could almost hear her roll her eyes, but she had no choice. "Duncan is the hottest thing since Justin…only hotter."

"Good, and now I have that on tape."

"Duncan!"

I put her down but grabbed her in my arms.

"Pig," she easily retorted.

"I missed you babe."

"Hmm, me too."

"Now go make me some dinner, woman."

Courtney shook her head and smiled. "No matter how old we grow, or how many kids you'll have to raise, you'll still be my old bad boy."

I winked at her and proceeded to kiss her.

"Never forget that sweetheart."


	5. Haircuts

**Hey guys! so b4 u read this chappie, i just wanted to let u know that i'm rewriting Courtney's Pregnant along with the help of my beta xxFireWarriorxx‏, check it out aaand if you have any ideas for future chapters of this story, let me know in a PM and maybe i'll write it! Enjoy! **

I was disturbed from my peaceful sleep when a loud, buzzing noise woke me up.

I rolled over and groaned at the thought of what precious hours of sleep I lacked while doing my homework and studying. Normally I would cuddle Duncan closer when I woke up, but there was nothing laying next to me seeing as it was ten thirty in the morning. If it was ten thirty-and I was positive it was because I glanced at the clock again- then why was it so dark in the house?

I really hope Duncan wasn't playing an irrational joke on me. I listened closer for any sign of movement, but instead I heard dragons. And…was that swords? Pretty sure Duncan was playing _Dragon Slayer,_ his latest addiction. Ugh, him and his addictions. Every time a new thing.

I listened closer and heard the player dying, then I heard Duncan curse quietly to himself and either Alex or Devon squealing.

Why was he playing that with our babies? Doesn't he know that the violence could corrupt their little, learning minds?

I slowly and reluctantly got up, thanking the lord that it was Friday. One month into my vigorous school schedule, and I was exhausted.

I slumped into the living room and abruptly halted. _Both_ of the twins were on Duncan's lap, all three of them staring at the TV while Duncan killed numerous monsters on the TV screen.

I coughed slightly to get his attention and…no response. I tried clearing my throat, but no avail. When he didn't give me any attention, I stomped over to the TV and shut the system off, much to Duncan's displeasure.

"Hey, what was that for!?"

I took Devon out of his arms and cradled him towards my chest.

"Uh, hello, you're addicted!"

He scoffed and got up, taking Alex along with him. I took notice of the child in my arms and glanced at him very carefully.

"Duncan! I thought I asked you last week to take both the twins to get a haircut!"

Devon's hair was covering his eyes, and he was constantly trying to shake it out of his eyes so he could see. Alex didn't look any better.

Duncan shrugged nonchalantly and said, "So what? It doesn't make no difference."

"It does make a difference! Devon looks like he's half blind! You are so irresponsible!"

Duncan sighed and came over and rubbed my back with his free hand and said, "look, if its such a big a deal to you, I'll take them today."

I pulled myself out of his grasp on my shoulder and faced him. This was getting out of hand, ever since he bought that stupid Xbox console and those stupid violent games, he's been ignoring what I've been saying for the past two weeks.

"Yes Duncan, it is a big deal. Ever since you got addicted to that stupid game, you've been ignoring me."

Duncan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "God Courtney, must you make everything sound like a big deal?"

"That's it!" I ran upstairs and locked the door to our room. I grabbed some random clothes out of the closet and threw them on without much care. I brushed my hair, not bothering to straighten it and then brushed my teeth. I grabbed my extremely heavy bag, only to drop it because of my aching back. I trudged downstairs and grabbed an apple off the fruit bowl on the counter top.

"Hey Princess-"

"Don't talk to me. I'm not in the mood for your games."

"Fine, but just so you know you have an hour left until school starts," he said as he walked towards me as I headed for the door.

"I don't care."

Then I slammed the door in his unsuspecting face.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

God, what was her deal?

I mean, so what if I forgot to take the twins to get a silly haircut, one doesn't matter anyway. Look at me I'm doing fine!

I took Devon in my arms and glanced at him. It wasn't that bad, and it was kind of cute the way he sneezed and some of the hair in his eyes flew up.

Okay, I see her point. Maybe I was being a little irresponsible.

I'd already fed the kids their breakfast, and there was still time for lunch later, so I decided to get this over with now. After I bundled them in their fall apparel we headed out to the car, and I strapped them in tight.

Except the few, occasional squeals and gurgles from the back, the car ride was pretty quiet.

I reminisced quietly on the time the twins got their first haircut. It was pretty funny. Courtney started freaking out, and the twins threw a fit unless she was there with them.

I just hope it wont be different now… We arrived at the cheap place, honestly it scared me. It was all kiddy and stupid and frilly, ugh.

I picked them up and had to wait ten frickin minutes before we got accepted. I **hated** the receptionist. Always looking at me as if I was her bad boy or something, either that or as some escaped criminal. Too bad for her, the only girl who's bad boy I am, is Courtney…when she forgives me. I scowled at the receptionist and when we got called I carried the twins by without a glance.

Nothing strange happened until I tried to put Alex in the chair. She started squealing and yelling.

"No! I don wanna!" I sighed and tried to put her down, but my heart wouldn't let me.

"C'mon Alex, what are you scared of?"

" It hurt!"

"No it doesn't, c'mon Devon why don't you show her?"

Once Devon heard his twin say it hurt, he didn't want to do it either. I turned towards the lady and gave her a look as if to say 'what now?'

"What if you showed them it doesn't hurt?"

"You've got to be kidding me." No. Not my Mohawk, my trade mark. No, I can't do it. Not for anything in the whole darn worl-

"Does it hurt daddy?" I looked at Alex as if to talk her out of it, but one look at her sad little blue eyes and it melted my heart.

"Sir, are you gonna sit or what?"

I gulped, what am I supposed to do now?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I stepped out of the car and squinted at the broad daylight.

Stupid research paper kept me at the library late, so my teachers let me have the night shift off. I slugged my bag over my shoulders and winced at the pain.

I awaited going in, I didn't know what to expect. An irresponsible Duncan probably playing _Dragon Slayer_ while the twins napped, or a surprisingly normal Duncan, who listened to me.

I turned the key in the lock and stepped inside, only to drop my bag which landed with a _thud_ on the floor and gap at the sight in front of me. Duncan turned to look at me, a pissed expression on his face.

"Don't…say…a…word."

My eyes pricked, but I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.

Duncan, his hair, almost all of it gone in a buzz cut. I tried to avert my eyes on something else, but I couldn't, it was too shocking. I kept trying and finally, I settled on the twins.

They looked so cute!! I came up, kissed Duncan's hair, or what was left of it and took Devon out of Duncan's arms.

"You look so cute baby!" Alex did too, they were both adorable, but both looked like they were about to collapse.

"Court, I'm tired. It's…been a long day."

I turned to look at Duncan, he looked upset and exhausted. I wonder if he understood how I felt now.

Looking at him again almost made me want to cry, why did he do it? Didn't he know that his hair was one of my favorite aspects of him? I tried to shake it off and answer him back without letting him know how upset I was.

"I can see that. I'll tuck them in tonight, I'll be up in a minute." He curtly nodded and stalked his way upstairs rather quickly. I laughed quietly at what pride he thought thought he had left and scooped up my kids who were dozing off silently.

After I tucked them in and changed into my night gown, I slid next to Duncan and cuddled tightly against him. He gently stroked my hair, refusing to look at me, or confront me.

"Why?"

I knew that he knew what I was referring to.

"Your kids threw a tantrum."

"They're you kids too baby. Now you see how I feel."

He nodded but I saw that he understood.

"I miss it, it doesn't suit you well."

"Tell that to the devils." He had an angry look in his eyes when he spoke.

"You don't mean that."

He still refused to look at me at all. I changed my voice so it sounded a little softer and sadder, so he would listen. I knew that he hated when i was upset.

"Honey, look at me. I'm sorry I was mad this morning."

He gently and slowly looked at me and I knew that he fell for it. I looked up at him, but the blue eyes were what stood out of his features.

"I hate it, it's not…me."

"True, but it gives me a chance to look at your eyes."

He smiled my favorite smile which made me want to melt. "You think so?"

"Mmhmm." I was slowly drifting off to sleep, happy I wasn't mad anymore.

"One more thing."

"Hmm?" I was tired, couldn't he see? I've been at school all day.

"You owe me big time."

"Mmkay." He quietly chuckled while I snuggled tighter against him and slept.

**Awww! poor Duncan!!! i feel bad for him!! so remember, the more people review the faster i update!!! Oh!! i almost forgot!! i just became a beta reader so if you guys want any help with your TDI stories, then feel free to let me beta them for you!!!!! Just let me know in a PM and i'll get back to you as fast as I can!! c u guys soon!!!**


	6. Major Scares

**Did you guys know that Duncan has a secret picture of Courtney under his pillow??? i'm not lying it was on TDA episode three! i got the episode even though i live in the US!! it took me awhile thoguh.....**

Everything was quiet.

The twins were quietly napping upstairs; I was sitting on the couch, watching Duncan, who was on the floor, playing his video games.

"Duncan I want to actually do something today, instead of sitting around all day watching you play your stupid video games…"

Duncan glanced up at me and it sent shivers down my back at the way he looked; I couldn't get over his haircut, even though it's been a month already. The way he looked now, reminded me of that dream…where he wasn't Duncan anymore, instead he was a cold, hard, unloving-

"They aren't stupid, besides do have any better ideas sweetheart?"

I stood up from the couch I was sitting on and put my hands on my hips. "As a matter of fact, I do. Why don't we go to the mall with the twins? They could use some new clothes."

"Yeah and I need more hair dye," Duncan said sarcastically while shifting his attention back to his game.

I sighed; he didn't know how much it hurt when he joked about his hair like that. Couldn't he understand that it reminded me of a time, where he was gone, no trace of him in my life, and he hated me and it left me to tears? Oh, wait, he couldn't. He knew that I had a really bad dream once, but he didn't know what it was about.

"Duncan I'm serious. Can we go?"

Duncan turned back around and tried to look me in the eyes, but I turned my attention to something else; clearing the plates from the table and washing them. I didn't hear Duncan come up quietly behind me and rest his arms on my shoulder, and his head on top of mine. I squeaked because I was startled and he shifted his weight a little so he wasn't extorting so much weight on my shoulders.

"Courtney? How come you don't look me in the eyes anymore?" I couldn't let him know what was really going on.

"I do! I'm just washing the dish that's all."

He didn't buy it. I was washing the dish I was focusing on with so much pressure, my knuckles were ghostly white and I was sure any second now the plate would crack.

"You really dot like any dirt on our dishes huh?"

I don't know how many seconds passed, but the plate I was washing did break, into lots of pieces. I gasped in pain and before I knew it Duncan was leaning over me, yelling at me if I was alright. I quickly glanced at my hand, and it was throbbing really badly and blood was dripping out of multiple places.

"Courtney, are you okay?! Answer me if you're okay!"

He was mad, I knew it. I couldn't bear to look at him; it would only engrave clearer images of the heartless Duncan in my head, permanently. I stood up from where I was crouching and grabbed the nearest dishtowel and threw it over my hand carelessly.

I tried to leave the room, but a strong hand grasped my unscathed one.

"What is with you lately? Is something wrong with you?"

His tone started out strong with confusion and a hint of anger, but then softened when he said, "is everything okay with you? With us?"

I couldn't take it anymore. The pressure was surrounding me and I felt as though I couldn't breathe.

"Just leave me alone!" I yelled so loud, I swore I heard the walls shake. Duncan dropped his hold on my hand and left the room. I was so angry; I kicked the cabinet, which hurt me more than it.

Tears were threatening to fall any minute, so I limped towards the couch and set to work on my hand. It was stinging and burning at the same time and blood was pouring out of it. It was so disgusting I brought my knees to my chest and buried my head in them as to not look at it.

I wondered if any second Duncan was going to walk in here with a large suitcase telling me he's leaving me and the twins.

I heard footsteps and I cringed waiting for the dreaded words. I felt another presence on the sofa, and it tenderly took my hand in its own hands and I heard a breath being sucked in. I resisted for a bit, but the sensation was calming. Especially knowing that it was Duncan trying to help.

I heard a box being opened and a stinging sensation on my hand.

"Ow……that hurts," I quietly said without lifting my head up from my chest, while resisting all the more.

I heard a soft chuckle that grabbed my hand more firmly then reached for something else in the mysterious box.

"It's your own fault. Now stay still, I'm trying to help."

I sighed and gave up, letting my hand fall into his own. It was starting to hurt more so I softly said, "can you not pull that hard, it hurts."

I could almost bet he was smiling, but he did soften his touch a little. I raised my head a little and rested it on my knees. I watched while covered my hand with gauze and taped the material into place.

He took my free hand and rubbed it in his own hands when he was finished.

"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" he quietly said.

"No, not really."

"Do you want me to guess? Cause I'll assume something that is much worse than what's really wrong."

"You can try guessing, but I'll doubt you'll get it right."

He rubbed his head and looked like he was deeply in thought for a moment. "You're pregnant again."

I shook my head no; I knew that would be one of the verdicts. "You're mad at me."

"Nope, try again."

"You want to divorce me." He said it so bluntly, and it shocked me so much, that my head shot up and looked at him.

"Am I right? Is that it?"

How could he think that? Doesn't he know that it's almost the complete opposite! I swallowed any tears that were daring to fall, and worked up my courage to tell him no.

"Duncan h-how could you t-think that? Don't you know how m-much I love you? How much I n-need you?"

A few tears had escaped, he was about to pull me into his arms but I had reached out to him, like a little kid would do to his mom or dad when it's hurt. I cried into his arms as soon as he pulled me into them.

"I warned you it would be something really bad. Can I have a clue?"

I sniffled and responded quietly. "Think of something recent, like something…… that happened last month."

I refused to look at him, but I heard him nod in realization. "You mean my haircut? It's not a big deal Courtney. I don't think that's the real problem."

"That's not the problem Duncan! The thing is…well remember that night? The one I was really upset about not going to school? Yeah so, I had a dream and in that dream I was roommates with Heather, yes Heather! We were in Harvard, and she told me that I aborted the twins and I was dating Justin because I put a restraining order on you because you knocked me up."

I was sobbing by then, recalling every part of the horrendous dream. He held me tighter, figuring it was over but I had a lot more to get off my chest.

"T-that's not the worst part! I r-ran to see y-you, and w-when I did you hated me! Your hair l-looked exactly like it does now, except now you still have the piercings. Y-you told m-me you h-ha-hated me! And you slammed t-the door in my face. Now, y-you scare me. I keep thinking you're going to leave me, but I need you. So much that you don't even know!"

I cried and cried into his arms, glad that it was all off my chest.

"I didn't know that it was that much babe. I'm sorry."

I sniffled and wiped my eyes. "It's not your fault."

He rubbed my head and said, "now I understand why you don't look at me anymore, you're scared."

I nodded quietly and hiccupped.

"I'll make you a deal, I'll grow back the Mohawk and dye it green again, as soon as my hair grows a little, but in return you have to look at me and not let me scare you. I promise, I'm not going to leave you."

"You're right, I'm just being silly."

His hand came up to my face and rubbed it gently. "No, it isn't silly. If I had a dream that you left me, I'd be spooked too."

I nodded and got up. "Are you okay now Court?"

I nodded and winked at him. "c'mon, lets go wake the kids up if we want to go out."

He smiled and took my hand in his as we walked upstairs.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Two hours and about ten stores later, and I was exhausted.

How much shopping could one girl do and still have enough energy to boss me around? And really how many new clothes do two kids need. And why doesn't hot topic have baby stores?

"Duncan stop looking like you're being tortured and smile."

I whispered quietly, "but I am being tortured."

"What was that honey?"

"Nothing darling!"

I tried to lug around the many bags that I was holding without looking like I couldn't carry it, but I don't think that I was very successful.

I looked at Courtney, who had the easy job of pushing the twins around in one of those kiddy-carts. Numerous times, I could see the twins both smiling at me, as if to mock me.

Nothing interesting happened until we passed by GameStop where I told Courtney, I had to check out the latest Xbox games. She rolled her eyes at me and parked the cart while I went to see what they had inside.

I came back out almost ten minutes later and my eyes almost popped out of my head. Courtney was turned around looking at some cosmetic counter. I ran up to her and grabbed her shoulders.

"Courtney! What are you doing!?"

"I-I just wanted to check out some of the cosmetics, is that so bad to shop for myself?"

"Courtney! You can never, ever turn your back on the twins."

She looked at me in confusion. "Why?"

"Cause, before you know it they'll be……gone."

We both turned around and indeed they were gone. Courtney started going into hysterics. "Where are they! How could they be gone so fast?!"

She started breathing heavily and I rubbed her arms to calm her down. "We have to search the mall, fast. I'm not entirely sure, but they can probably walk now."

She stopped and turned to look at me a knowing expression on her face. "How do you know so much about all this?"

"The twins got lost on me the first time that I watched them."

"What!?" I pulled her hand and grabbed the cart trying to locate the nearest security guard.

"There's no time for that Courtney! Come on!"

We went to about five security guards and still no sight of them, Courtney was crying hysterically now. "My babies are l-lost! And it's a-all my f-fault!"

"Courtney, come on, lets go. Do you want to mope about it or find them?"

I couldn't blame her for crying about them being lost. I felt like crying too, except we had no time for that.

We rushed towards the main security desk almost out of breath. "Have you seen two toddlers, possibly walking, both with dark hair, very energetic?"

The security guard glanced at Courtney, who was still crying and I anxiously waited for an answer.

"Someone from lost and found paged us about some kids. Go check there."

There was no stopping Courtney, she was running ahead of me rushing to find them. I was running fast too, but I had a whole cart with a trillion shopping bags inside. I think that was about enough exercise for the week, now I don't have to go to the gym.

Courtney was there pleading with a woman, telling her that they were her children. Well…gee that makes me feel great…

By the time that I got there, both twins were in Courtney's arms, all three of them crying.

I acknowledged my presence when I said, " I guess the twins can walk now, huh?"

Courtney kissed my head and Alex's head quickly and handed my Alex. I cuddled her in my arms, hard.

Before I knew it, I was crying into her hair.

"Never scare me like that again."


	7. Halloween part 1

**I am soooo soory for not updating! my computer was being such a screwup and then i had writers block but thx 2 my friend sarah for giving me ideas!!! luv u all, and btw this is part 1 of halloween part 2 will b coming soon!!**

"Courtney, we need to talk."

Duncan's bluntness cut through the air while I was currently cooing to Alex, who was giggling in my arms.

"Hmm…can it wait? I think I'm beginning to get this whole motherhood thing now."

Duncan sighed, and I could see that he was getting impatient. "No Courtney, it can't. It's very important; I need to talk to you now."

I angrily growled slightly and put Alex in her playpen. When she started to whimper, I put her purple pacifier in her mouth and made sure she sucked on it for a few seconds before laying her down and let her relax for a bit.

I got up and followed Duncan out to the den. "Okay, now what's so important to tell me, that I have to leave my own daughter? And why have you been acting like this all week, all depressed and moody?"

"Courtney, something's come up, and it's not good."

"Really, well something's come up this week that's also not good!"

Duncan raised his eyebrows casually and smirked at me as if I was playing some game with him. It wasn't his usual smirk that I had grown to love, just a playful ghost of it.

"Courtney, this is really serious. I don't have time for fun and games."

"Clearly! Apparently, you don't have time for your children either!" My breathing was hard and heavy as tears threatened to fall from my eyes. Duncan looked shocked for a moment, but shock quickly changed to anger.

"What do you mean I don't have time for my own children!?"

"I mean that all week, you've been ignoring them and not spending time with them! Alex tells me that she wants to play with you, but she can't because you're off doing something any of us know! And Devon misses you, a lot. And I do too…" I trailed off quietly on that last part.

Duncan clearly looked angry and wouldn't soften his face at all. "Gee, well I'm sorry Courtney! I'm sorry that I don't have time to play games and to spend time with our children. Maybe it's because WE'RE BROKE!"

My heart sank all the way to the floor and I had to sit down on one of the couches, otherwise I was sure I would faint.

"Yeah, I said it. _We are broke._" Duncan stressed every letter as if it was hurting him to say it.

"Thanks to you, who just had to go to school? _I_ had to take time off of work to watch our children who I don't give a damn about, right Courtney? My boss called me last weekend, and guess what, _I'm fired!_ Yeah so while you've been playing around and spending time with the kids, I was the one who had to call around and try to find a job so we could actually raise two children!"

Tears were pouring down my face, what had I done to deserve this? All I did was speak my opinion. And when had Duncan become so harsh? I glanced up at him through my blurry eyes, he was furious, but a hint of sadness was in his eyes.

"Oh yeah, now you have nothing to say. Are you sure you wouldn't like to open your big mouth some more, and say anything else that's hurtful?"

I shook my head and tears fell down like there was no tomorrow. "Good. Now you see you really should keep your big mouth shut sometimes. If you had, I wouldn't have had to yell and you wouldn't be upset. Maybe that's why you got kicked off on Total Drama Isla-"

I got up, I couldn't take it anymore; I slapped him square across the face. I cringed, waiting for him to do something back, but he stood still, with his head down.

"Shut up!" I ran to our room and slammed the door hard, and he didn't even try to stop me.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I sighed, frustrated and sat on the couch with my head in my hands, one hand rubbing my smarting cheek.

What was that back there? Since when had I become some heartless monster who yelled at the woman he loved? I groaned to myself. I really screwed up, badly.

"Daddy?" The scared voice made my head shot up out of my hands.

Alex had somehow gotten out of the playpen and was now lingering in the doorway. She had most likely come to see what the yelling was all about, it probably sacred her. Why wouldn't it have scared her, I'm a monster.

"Daddy?" the same scared little voice asked again.

"Its okay baby, I got you." I walked over to her and picked her up, then carried her back to the couch.

"Mommy okay?" Her sad little eyes made me want to cry.

"No, mommy's not okay," I responded sadly.

"Why?"

"Because your dad is a mean person who cant keep control of his anger and frustration and takes it out on harmless people."

She put her tiny hand on my face. "No daddy, nice. I wuv my daddy."

And with that she kissed me on the cheek. How could I have ignored this little angel for a week? She was my little baby, my special angel, my piece of…Courtney.

I sighed and got up. "Alex, could you be a good girl just for a little while so I can go talk to mommy?"

She gently nodded and I put her back in her playpen, pacifier in her mouth.

I headed upstairs and I could vaguely hear stifled, crying. I tried the door handle, and to my surprise, it wasn't locked. I gently stepped in, not wanting to disturb her. Instead of yelling at me or telling me to go away like she normally would she spoke quietly and calmly.

"I heard what you said to Alex down there." I guiltily smiled, trying to show her that she was right.

"You were right, you are a mean person who can't keep control of his anger and frustration and takes it out on harmless people." I sighed, with much more guilt.

"You're right, I know I am. I'm sorry Courtney. I don't know what got a hold of me back there. I guess I took out all my anger for not finding a job and put it out on you."

Courtney nodded solemnly. "But you are right, I have been neglecting the kids and I'm sorry, but it's hard to find a job you know?"

"Uh huh…" She scooted over on the bed, and glanced towards me. I took the hint and slid next to her, wrapping my arms around her in the process.

"But I have a solution for that."

"What?"

"We have to get a babysitter for the twins."

"Who would possible do that?" I smiled mischievously.

"I know just the person." Courtney raised her eyebrows at me but I ignored it. The babysitter I had in mind would be perfect. She could start tonight when we're at Geoff and Bridgette's Halloween party.

"Courtney, we have to take the twins shopping for the party tonight."

She sighed. "I'm too tired to go, how about you take them."

"Okay then, I'll just go. Just me and the twins and I'm sure I'll choose the best costume for them."

I could tell Courtney wasn't listening anymore when she put herself under the covers.

"Uh huh, have fun."

I tried to sneak out the room before she noticed what she was getting at here.

5…4…3…2…1

"Duncan! Wait up! You're not picking out the costumes!"

I chuckled heartily and let het get ready in peace.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Duncan, there is no way I'm letting the twins dress up as devils for Halloween."

I rolled my eyes at him. Why on earth would he want the kids to look like devils?

"What do you want; I think we all know what you're going to be for Halloween _princess_."

"It's better than a devil!"

"Actually I think you would look really sexy as a devil babe."

I groaned and kept scanning. "We're never going to agree on something, are we?"

"Hey, actually this might be adorable for Alex, don't you think?" I glanced it over, it was cute. A bit too Duncan for me but it did seem to suit Alex's personality. She was more like her father anyways, but what could we use for Devon?

"There is a boy version you know."

"Alright! But what could we use for us?"

"As I said, devil baby!"

"Only if you go as an angel…" I had meant it sarcastically but Duncan actually looked serious.

"That might not be a bad idea," Duncan said devilishly as I rolled my eyes at him.

**K guys sorry its sooo short!!! but part 2 will be coming up soon! and if guys have any ideas i could really use them!!**


	8. Halloween part 2

**Omg im soooooo sorry u guys!! my comp died and i had 2 write this chappie alll over on a new comp. i hope u like this and i hav a 3 day weekend so ill try 2 update agin. sorry again and i really hope this was worth the wait!**

I applied the finishing touches to my make-up while grimacing in the mirror.

How Duncan talked me into this, I cannot recall. I fully glanced at myself in the big bathroom mirror. Not bad, I decided; just a bit too slutty for my taste.

I picked up Devon off my bed and stroked back his hair from his forehead. I made Duncan replace his costume, it looked too silly on him. I changed it to a business man. Duncan had groaned when I bout it, but I told him that it was only fair, because he got to choose Alex's costume.

I carried Devon downstairs to find Duncan talking to someone on the phone with one hand, and holding an impatient Alex in the other arm. I laughed at the sight of Alex trying to climb all over Duncan while he was on the phone, so I took her out of his hands and placed both of the twins in their playpen. Duncan mouthed a quick 'thank you" to me and I winked at him.

He continued the conversation with the unknown person and I could only catch glimpses at what they were talking about.

"You gonna meet us there?"

I skimmed over at Duncan's costume again. Again, I had to keep from laughing. Duncan had kept his promise; he did dress up as an angel. And he looked as silly in that as I did in the devil costume. The halo was angled crookedly over Duncan's hair, probably wishing it could transform into devil horns.

"No, that won't work. Come on K don't start arguing with me."

I wouldn't dare put on the devil horns if I could help it, they looked ridiculous on me.

I caught sound of something hitting the floor and turned around sharply. Alex had thrown her tiara, which I'd spent twenty minutes putting on her head and getting it to stay there, across the floor. Alex didn't cry, she simply laughed. I rushed to pick up the crown and I halfheartedly put it back, with little effort, on Alex's head. I then put her purple pacifier into her mouth, so she would stay quiet. She would do anything if she had her purple pacifier in her mouth, like Duncan whenever she was addicted to something, it would stay.

"Fine how bout you just get dressed and meet us at the hotel, ok? See you in about an hour, bye." Duncan finally hung up the phone with a sigh, and then scanned me over up and down. I rolled my eyes as I saw Duncan's eyes pop out of his head and his mouth fell to the floor.

"Duncan. Get over it already, there's not much to look at."

Duncan encircled me in his arms while smirking. "Says you. But I believe there is one piece missing."

He reached over into one of the small drawers where I had stuffed the devil horns. Damn! I thought he would never find it. He gently placed it on my head while I pouted. He smirked and then declared we were ready to go.

I mumbled some incoherent words, and glanced at the time. It was six-thirty, time to leave before we were late. Geoff and Bridgette lived over two hours away so we were staying at a hotel for the night.

I picked up the twin's coats and gently put them on them. Alex was reaching for Duncan, trying to ignore the pang of jealousy in my stomach I handed her to Duncan's open arms.

Devon's arms reaching out for me put the smile back on my face though. I lifted him up and planted a kiss on his hair. Devon was such a sweetie; he was very quiet though, very unlike his twin who took the opportunity to yell whenever it came.

Duncan and I walked out silently to the car and I took notice that it was getting darker by the minute. After putting the bags in the car, we all took off.

About half an hour into the ride, I turned to face Duncan with curious eyes. "Hey babe, who were you talking to on the phone earlier?"

Duncan gave me one of his knowing look while focusing on the road. "The twin's new babysitter."

"You still haven't told me who it is yet." Duncan smiled at me and put one of his hands on my own, stroking my wedding band.

"Just trust me on this one, she's good. Why don't you get some rest? It's going to be a long drive and you know that this party will run late."

I nodded gratefully and closed my eyes, falling asleep to the feeling of Duncan stroking my hand.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Courtney, darling wake up." I nudged Courtney so she would wake up, we were at the parking garage and all three members of my family were quietly napping.

If I took Courtney out first, then I would have to carry her to our room and leave the twins in the car.

"Need some help?" I turned around and relief spread throughout me. Kayla, standing less than five feet away, rushed up to me and hugged me, planting a kiss on each of my cheeks.

"Just in time kid."

She smirked at me and said, "as usual."

I handed her Devon's baby carrier and she carried it without a sweat. I nudged Courtney some more, and with more effort she woke up.

"Huh, are we there yet?"

"Yeah we're at parking, get up."

I lent her a hand to help her get up and she tiredly accepted it. She stumbled and fell forward so I caught her in my arms and pulled her close to me while carrying Alex's baby carrier. Courtney pulled back and tiredly mumbled, "Wait…what…Devon?"

"Taken care of, Kayla's got him."

Courtney stopped abruptly and smiled. "Wait Kayla's the sitter?"

Duncan smiled and shrugged. "Yeah, who else did you expect?"

Courtney shrugged and stumbled again. I picked her up, sat her on the roof of her car, took of her red stilettos for her and slung her on my back, piggy-back style.

"Courtney, we're going to the party in less than an hour, you need to wake up."

"Ten more minutes." I chuckled and headed towards our suite and dropped Courtney on the bed where she hit her head on the headboard.

"Oww…"

"Your fault babe, remember. Your ten minutes are up, put your shoes on and get the kids ready. It's already eight forty-five."

Courtney sluggishly sat up, and put her shoes on. I crawled next to her and rearranged her horns so they didn't look lopsided. Then I planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Whoa lovebirds, take it easy. Really didn't come here to see that."

I got up and messed up Kayla's hair and replied, "get used to it squirt. I swear you're becoming more like me every day now."

Kayla smiled, as if she was proud.

"Ok, you're going to stay here for the first half hour ok? I'll bring the kids home around nine-thirty. You're to put the straight into their play pens; there are blankets in the bag. Put them in the play pen and tuck the kids in ok?" Kayla nodded lazily and turned on the TV.

I took Courtney's hand on one of my hands and held Devon in the other, and led them to the nearest bus stop outside the hotel. Halfway there, Alex started wailing from Courtney's arms and I had to switch Devon with her. Courtney looked glum until we got on the bus, there she sulked quietly in peace.

After the twenty minute ride we finally arrived at Bridgette and Geoff's house. I pulled Courtney through the door and she came along half heartedly.

"Whoa, look at Duncan and Courtney!"

"Angel and devil, nice!"

"How'd you get her to get dressed up like that Duncan?"

"Courtney, you look hot!" My blood was boiling at that last comment. Only I'm allowed to say that!

"Okay, who yelled that last one?!" The room fell silent at my outburst for a minute before everyone crowded around wanting to see the twins.

"Aww they're so cute! Aren't they Sadie?!"

"They're so so cute Katie!" Alex was looking around everywhere, trying to find a familiar face.

"Antie Bidgette!"

"Unca Gef!"

Bridgette and Geoff rushed forward, cuddling their favorite niece and nephew in their arms.

While mostly everyone were fawning over the kids some broke off such as Gwen and Trent and came over to talk to us.

"Courtney you look great for a mother like yourself." Courtney giggled and said thanks.

Trent simply patted my back as all four of us headed to get drinks. I tried to hand Courtney a strawberry martini but she shook her head.

"I really shouldn't have alcohol."

"Come on, one drink that's all." Courtney looked nervous, it was just a drink. Unless…

"Wait; don't tell me you've never had an alcoholic drink?" Courtney blushed and grabbed the fruity drink out of my hand.

"God Duncan, are you always out to embarrass me?" She chugged down the fruity drink as I patted her on the back and said, "That's my girl."

Courtney blushed and her face turned red. "That…tasted…so good!"

I laughed and headed over to save the twins from being cuddled to death. No sooner than I had taken a step I heard Alex's loud wailing and all the girls frantic to make her feel better.

Courtney rushed forward ahead of me and took Alex in her arms, cooing to her and kissing her face. Alex's wails didn't cease, in fact I think they increased.

I came forward and Courtney handed Alex to me who immediately stopped crying and cuddled against my shoulder.

A chorus of 'awws' was heard and I resisted the urge to scowl, instead I kissed Alex's hair. Another chorus was heard, but I could only look at Courtney, who was chugging another martini.

I sighed and shook my head at Alex. I headed over to DJ and asked him if he would drive the kids' home, he happily agreed. I handed him Devon and I took Alex myself into his car, buckled them both, and watched them drive away.

Happy that Courtney and I had the evening to ourselves with no distractions, I headed inside where I stretched my arms lazily around Courtney's shoulders. She smiled happily and kissed my cheek. Her face also looked flushed and she was swaying from side to side.

I straightened her shoulders and said, "Whoa girl, how many drinks did you have?"

She giggled and answered, "just four, or something maybe six, I lost count."

I laughed and continued mingling. Courtney and the girls were dancing, probably half of them drunk I assumed. The party was really fun, two hours passed by like nothing. I did take notice of Courtney passing out, so I gently laid her on the couch.

It was almost midnight when I picked Courtney up bridal style, that brought back the good old days, and left.

Courtney vaguely woke up on the bus ride home and started crying complaining that her head hurt. I pushed back her hair from her face and took off those ridiculous horns.

"Well babe, you shouldn't have had so many drinks."

"My daughter doesn't love me!" wailed Courtney at some point on the ride.

I cuddled her in my arms and said, "Just spend more time with her; I guess she has some connection with me that's all."

When we got home, Courtney collapsed on the bed and I kissed her lightly on her lips. Courtney giggled the alcohol's influence I supposed, and kissed me back.

"Again lovebirds, I'm right here you know."

I smirked and turned off the lights in the room. "Goodnight Kayla."

Then Courtney and I started where we left off.


	9. Mother daughter bonding

**Ok guys! again sorry for not updating sooner, but my comp totally broke so i had to start writing this all over on my new laptop! sorry again and i hope you like it!! I'll try to update again this week cause i'm on break! If you have any ideas for the next chapter please let me know!**

I strolled over from the couch towards the table, stopping only once to clutch my head in my hands because of the pain, where my husband was busily sketching something on a sheet of paper.

I crept behind him and lazily laid my arms over his shoulders.

"What're you sketching?" He raised his head, surprised that I turned up next to him instead of laying on the couch as he had asked me to do for the day since we had returned from the hotel.

"What are you doing up? I thought I told you that if you want to feel better you shouldn't overexert yourself too much."

I scoffed and took a trip down memory lane. "Since when do you use words such as overexert? Last time I checked, your Neanderthal vocabulary limited your use of words to a third grade vocabulary."

Duncan smiled but didn't answer, he just went back to his sketching. "So what are you sketching? You look like you're working very hard at something."

"That's a first right?" Duncan answered sarcastically.

"I know right. I've never seen you work this hard at something as silly as a picture." I leaned forward so my somewhat cloudy vision could get a better glimpse at the drawing.

"Duncan, What is this? I cant really make it out; it's too elaborate for my eyes to adjust."

Duncan chuckled and put one arm around my waist. "That's what happens when you drink too much and get hungover Courtney."

I sighed frustratedly and gently hit him upside the head.

"Ow! OK I get it, jeesh Courtney no need to be hostel."

I rolled my eyes and waited for him to answer my question. "You're going to think it's silly."

I rolled my eyes again and replied, "Silly, you? Nah!"

"I'm serious Courtney," said Duncan irritably.

I turned my expression as serious as I could get and said, "You know that you can tell me anything and I wont laugh...well unless its completely irrational and unreasonable."

Duncan laughed and said, "Back to a third grade vocabulary please." I stifled a giggle and gave him a look that meant that he shouldn't worry.

He sighed knowingly and ran his hand through his quickly growing locks. "The word dream sounds cheesy so i think ill go with vision. I have a vision to have my own business. To open up my own punk-rock store and sell clothes designed by me. I can draw, and that shirt that I had during TDI, well I designed that too so, yeah I might actually have a chance."

Duncan's face had been growing redder the whole time her was talking. I thought it was adorable.

Wow, designing...now who would have ever thought that Duncan would want to design clothes? Then again, Duncan has been known to surprise people and besides there were few things about him that even I didn't know.

"So, what do you think?" Duncan's voice snapped me out of my reverie.

"I think it's wonderful that you want to have a business. But there's nowhere here that you can open it...."

Duncan looked down at his hands and said, "Well, you see I've been thinking about that too. I did find one place here to open up, but it's small. The problem is that eventually if business goes well then I might want to open up another store, like out of state..."

My face faltered a bit when I realized what that would mean. "You can't leave the state! What about the kids?!"

"Don't worry, if it will happen it'll be in a few years when the kids are older. And I promise I wont be gone for more than a week. Just don't worry about it for now." I huffed and sat down on the chair next to him.

"You want to go make dinner?" He shrugged and got up.

"I'll help with what I can." We both headed to the kitchen where I quietly chopped up vegetables for a salad and he made some pasta, the only thing he could make without burning too badly. The whole time my mind grazed over the fact that soon Duncan would be leaving the family. What would happen if I got into college?

I told my mind to settle down for once and I yawned. I walked past Duncan and said, "I'm going to go shower."

Duncan grinned and devilishly replied, "You want me to come join you?"

I smacked him upside the head and headed over to the shower, stopping only once to check in on the twins who were sleeping soundly in their cribs. I stroked Devon's soft black hair and kissed Alex on her head.

My, they were growing quickly. Soon we'd have to get them cribs and they would be going to preschool. Wow, how time flies.

I quickly got to our room, turned on the shower and stepped into it. I sighed in pleasure as the hot water unknotted the knots in my back and temporarily cleared my headache.

When I was dressed and ready, I woke the twins and carried them downstairs, where Duncan picked Devon out of my arms and strapped him into his highchair and I did the same for Alex. Not until we were in the middle of dinner did anything interesting happen. Alex wasn't eating and I was trying to persuade her to eat.

"C'mon baby, you gotta eat." Alex glared at me, probably a younger version of Duncan's glare.

"Yucky food."

Duncan came over to try and help me. "Alex, daddy made the noodles and mommy made the salad, now don't you want to eat?"

Alex stared at her food questioningly and started devouring the noodles. I sighed pleasantly before heading back to my seat only to be interrupted with a "done!" I turned around, twitching slightly from Alex's eager squeak and headed over to her chair. I peered down and all she seemed to have eaten was the noodles.

"Don't you want any salad? Mommy made it especially for you because she knows you like tomatoes."

"Yucky tomatoes! Dada no make salad, I don't eat it!"

I sighed, here we go again. "But mommy made the salad and you love momma right?"

Alex looked confused to me for a moment. "I dunno. Momma never here. Momma always at school. Daddy always plays with me."

My face fell and I felt it pale about five shades. Duncan came up and snatched Alex out of her chair and said, "Enough young lady, I think it's time for your bath and for you to go to bed."

Alex stared back at me blankly as if she had no recollection of what she said. Well, of course she probably didn't remember, she's two.

"Momma?" I turned around to find Devon looking worriedly at me from behind. I came to him and lifted him up as well, clutching him to my chest.

"I love you momma." Devon wiped his hand across my wet cheek, which was strange because I hadn't even realized that I was crying.

"I know baby, I love you too. I know I haven't spent much time with you, but it'll change I promise!" Devon smiled and relaxed his head against my chest. I cuddled him and carried him upstairs to his crib where I gently laid him to go to sleep.

I walked towards Duncan and mine's room where I stripped off my clothes and silently put on my nightgown and climbed into bed.

"Court, you okay?"

"Y-yeah." My voice faltered a bit but there were no tears.

"I have a solution."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Are you sure Courtney?" I shook my head in a sign of conformation and smiled.

Duncan shrugged and replied, "Okay." He carried devon to the car along with a bag of necessities for the weekend and drove off.

I walked back into the living room where Alex was playing on the floor with her blocks and she glanced up at me then looked around.

"Where's daddy?" Alex started whimpering and the whimpers soon turned into tears. I let her cry it all out before turning to her and handed her one of her favorite dolls. She silently accepted and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Operation, love mommy again starts...now!" I whispered silently.

Alex stared at her doll for a few minutes in silence before looking up at me. "Momma?"

I answered her without looking her in the eyes. "Yes, Alex?"

"I don't mean what I say yesterday. I just miss momma, momma never plays with me anymore. Momma never has time for me, but always for Devon."

I glanced at her quickly her blue eyes were sad and filled with tears. "Daddy always tells me to love momma, because momma loves me. I do love you momma."

"I love you too Alex, very much so. Momma is just busy so I can raise you right. Once momma finishes with her work, I can spend time with you as much as you want, I promise."

Alex crawled over into my arms and I kissed her head. "Now, what do you say we play with some of the new presents momma bought you?"

"Presents? Yay!"

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Courtney, Alex? We're home!"

"Daddy!" Alex ran towards Duncan and clung onto his leg as if her life depended on it.

Did that mean we were back to square one? Even after the whole weekend?

Duncan lifted her up and kissed her heartily on both cheeks and her head. "That's my girl, now did you behave for mommy?"

Alex nodded her head vigorously and jumped down to give a giant hug to her twin.

"Aw, now isn't that sweet?"

Duncan came forward and embraced me in his arms before kissing me full on the lips.

"I've missed you babe. Did you have fun, did you get what you wanted?"

I nodded and said, "Missed you too, and yes Alex and me are tighter than ever."

"Good, now Alex, come give daddy a big hug to replace all the ones I missed all weekend."

Instead of rushing into his outstretched arms like Alex would normally do, she clung to my leg instead I smiled, picked her up and smirked at Duncan.

"I guess I'm her new favorite now, aren't I?"

Duncan's grin faltered as he came over and tousled my neat hair just to annoy me.

"Don't get your hopes up sweetheart, I still got a few tricks up my sleeve."


	10. Happy Thanksickgiving

**So sorry for not updating sooner, i had a lot of drama this week to take care of but i just had to post this for u guys!!! thanks for keeping up with me!!**

"Alex don't you just love all the pretty leaves and how they change colors?" I said as I carried Alex through the park.

It was late fall and the leaves were beginning to fall from the trees. Speaking of fall...

"Court, be careful you don't fall, you got a lot on your hands."

Courtney was juggling Devon, her purse and texting Bridgette all while trying not to trip on multiple obstacles in the park.

"I'm fine!" Courtney replied before saving herself from falling on her face.

I chuckled to myself before feeling Alex squirm in my arms and say, "Down daddy! Down!"

I let her down and she ran to her twin and Courtney gratefully put him down, and they both ran to the swings. They both tied climbing on it a few times before they realized they couldn't get on. Alex tried to get a head start by running and jumping on the swing, but she only fell and hurt herself.

Ignoring the need to rush at her and make sure that she was okay, I stayed behind to see how she would react. Instead of wailing like she would have normally done, she began looking around and, once finding the familiar face she wanted, she ran into my arms and pointed wordlessly at the swings. I smiled at her, threw her over my shoulder and put her and her twin on the swings.

Courtney, once she finished with her texting, started pushing Alex and Devon on the swings, before sneezing lightly. The wind blew past the trees and I pulled my arms closer around my skull shirt, glad that it was long sleeved.

I noticed that Courtney sneezed again and I couldn't help but worry a little. "Court, maybe you should put on your jacket. It's getting kind of windy here."

Courtney looked at me like I was crazy and replied, "Are you crazy? It's such a nice day outside."

I couldn't help but believe her, she was probably right anyway. If she was right, then why was I worrying so much? We played with the twins in the park for a while before it was getting dark and Courtney's sneezing was getting out of hand.

When we got home, Courtney didn't want to eat much, so I suggested she went straight to bed because she didn't look so good to me. After saying goodnight to the kids and putting them in bed, I climbed in bed to find Courtney moaning of a headache.

I tried to pull her into my arms, but that's when I noticed that she was burning up.

"Aww crud...I knew this would happen if you didn't stay warm! Why did I have to believe you! OK listen I am going to give you some advil and you aren't going to school tomorrow, you're going to stay home and rest, do you hear me?"

"Don't be silly, I just need to sleep well tonight and I'll be fine."

"We'll see tomorrow, I'm going to go get you the advil, try to go back to sleep honey." I pushed her hair back from her eyes as she feverishly tried to keep them open.

I went into the kitchen to fetch the advil, only to come back to find that Courtney was asleep. I shrugged and put the wet towel that I managed to get, on her forehead. I sighed, considering what I was in for tomorrow and climbed into bed. Little did I know that I wouldn't be receiving any sleep for a long time.

I was awoken by Courtney rushing to the bathroom, and hurling her guts out. I sighed and rushed after her just in time to hold her hair back while she puked her guts out.

"Courtney, you're staying home with me tomorrow. You're not leaving my sight." Courtney didn't reply due to the fact that she was gasping and worshipping the porcelain god. I was in for a long night, when I wasn't holding her hair back, I was dabbing her face with cold water and rubbing her back telling her she was gonna be okay. When she'd finally emptied out all the contents of her stomach and all she could do was moan, I carried her back to bed at around 7 in the morning.

Just when I was dozing off and about to get some sleep, I heard a loud wail coming from the twin's room. I groggily stepped in and took hold of Devon, the one wailing, and rocked him back and forth till he shut up. I placed him back in his crib when he became quiet, and stalked off to the bedroom to sleep.

I think I dozed for about an hour before I had the strange sensation that someone was watching me. I slowly opened my eyes to find the almost three-year-old Alex standing up and gazing at me from the side of the bed.

"Daddy wake up?"

"Yeah, yeah. Daddy's awake." I took her into my arms and resisted the urge to just fall asleep.

"How come mommy not in school?"

"Mommy's sick and tired. Let's not bother her okay?" She nodded heartily and I took her, and then her brother downstairs to make breakfast. I turned on the stove like Courtney showed me and tried to focus on making some eggs before I zonked out. I nearly fell asleep twice and landed my face in the eggs while making them.

I was in the middle of putting everything onto the plates when the phone rang. Annoyed by the loud noise, I picked it up crankily.

"Hello?"

"Duncan, I cant come watch the kids today. I'm sick, with the flu."

"You tell me this today, of all days? When Court is sick too and I have to watch her constantly? Oh that's just lovely Kayla."

"Sorry Duncan, I gotta go, my stomach hurts and i wanna make it to the bathroom in time. Bye." She hung up on me...now what was I supposed to do? I looked around the room randomly when my eyes caught the date on the calendar.

November 23...wait...wasn't thanksgiving on the 26?

Oh crap...Well there's no one saying that Courtney wont be well enough to cook by then...right?

___________________________________________________________________________________________3 days later..._________________________________

It got worse...way worse.

The twins caught the flu too, so now I was at everyone's beck and call for the past three days.

Courtney was still running a high fever, the twins were sneezing and coughing and running fevers every other day.

I had already tried to cook a turkey and failed miserably. I was sleep deprived, and cranky and really annoyed.

"Daddy!"

I ran to the twin's room for the twentieth time that morning. I picked up a crying Alex and held her close.

"What is it honey? Daddy's here."

Alex whined and curled up against my chest. "My tummy hurts. I can't sleep."

I rocked her back and forth, whispering soothing words until she stopped crying and relaxed a bit. I put her back in her crib and rubbed her back until she finally managed to close her eyes and fall asleep.

It seemed everyone was getting sleep but me.

When I got to the kitchen I glanced at the clock. It was three in the afternoon and I decided to bring Court some soup I had bought from the grocery store. No way was I going to be able to cook soup without burning it.

I heated the soup, poured it into a bowl and put it on a tray along with some crackers. I walked upstairs where Courtney was trying to catch up on her make up work for school.

She gave me one glance then the food half a glance, turned slightly green for a moment then said, "I'm not eating that."

"Princess eat it."

"I'm not hungry."

"And I don't care, eat it now..." She was stubborn and pushed the dish away from her.

I twitched slightly and sighed. "Babe, I know I don't cook very well, and you'd rather have a nice thanksgiving dinner, but I just can't. I'm exhausted and I can barely open my eyes and I'd probably burn the food anyways."

She looked confused for a minute and sighed. "It's Thanksgiving?"

I nodded my head glumly and had to remind myself not to fall asleep. "What's there to be thankful for though? You're sick, the kids are sick, I'm feeling dead inside and all I want is a frigging nap. Is that so much to ask for?"

Courtney leaned forward and pushed my hair back from my tired eyes. "I'm thankful hon. If it weren't for you I wouldn't have someone to take care of me or the twins. I'm thankful for the twins and that they're growing healthy and well. But most of all...I'm thankful for you." She leaned forward and kissed my forehead.

I moaned, how I had missed the sensation of her lips touching me.

"Now go to sleep, you must be exhausted. I feel fine for now, the twins are asleep and you could really use a nap."

I was happy, for once. "Are you sure, because I can totally stay up and help out, try to cook some more and and......" I trailed off already giving away my cover by slipping in under the covers and leaning my head against the pillow, sighing as if I was in heaven.

"That's right sweetie, get some sleep." I leaned back and closed my eyes happy that Courtney was stroking my cheek.

_Happy Thanksickgiving..._


	11. New Friends Much?

**Sorry for this being so late you guys! I had soo much going on, and then writers block...ugghhhh. Well to make it up to you, there will be major drama in the next few chapters, which I hope to get to you this week, I promise. Thanks so much for the help of my new beta , Love is WAY Over rated!!!! She helped me this week soo much and with this chapter, enjoy you guys!!**

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The day after everyone was healthy in the house again and Duncan had caught up on his sleep, I was back to school. Truthfully, I was actually kinda happy to get away since the house still smelled slightly of sick.

"It'll probably take a couple days and some major bathroom cleaning to get rid of that smell," I spoke to myself grimly, taking in a breath as I changed clothes just to confirm my thoughts. My nose wrinkled in disgust of the odor and I heard Duncan laugh from where he was sitting on the bed; just watching me.

"What's so funny?" I inquired, wondering if there was something on my face.

"That thing you do with your nose, it's cute," he told me simply, smiling softly in a way that made butterflies erupt in my stomach as I was reminded of why I loved this man so much.

"At least one of us does something cute with our nose. All you do is snore with yours," I joked, laughing as his expression; one of slight horror and of his ego being wounded.

"That's only when I'm sick," Duncan defended himself and I just hummed in a mock form of agreeing with him.

"Whatever you say Hon," I told him with a smile and a grin appeared on his lips.

"Whatever I say, huh? Well what if I tell you to stay home today?" he asked and my smile fell as the guilt weighed down on my heart.

"You know I can't do that Duncan, I've already missed a week of school," I said sadly, looking anywhere but at my husband. The sheets gave away his movement as he slid out of them and walked over to me; the sound of his footsteps muffled by the plush carpet.

"Doesn't stop me from hoping," he whispered to me, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind. I leaned back into the security of his chest, breathing in his spicy smell and feeling at peace in his arms.

"Hmm, I could stay here all day," I thought happily, feeling as if I were floating in my mind with no worries. But then reality came back and I realized that I had to get to class before I was late.

"I love you Duncan," I told him, breaking away from the embrace to look at him. Even though the mohawk was no longer there, looking at the man before me I could still see Duncan and all the reasons why I loved him so much shining through in his baby blue eyes.

"Love you too Princess," he replied, kissing me softly. A cry from the twins' room broke our embrace and Duncan groaned as he ran a hand across his face.

"I'll see you when I get back, alright?" I asked, even though I knew he'd be here. He would probably be dead tired so I wouldn't spend much time with him, but he would still be here and that's enough for me.

"Of course," he assured me before I left the house as he headed to calm whichever child had started crying this time. It never fails to make me feel guilty when I think of how much Duncan has to do with the family: try to make money for us, put up with me going back to school, and taking care of the kids all day. God, I love that man.

I smiled as I headed out the door and into the car. It was nice of one of my classmates to drop off the classwork and the homework I'd missed so I wouldn't be too behind. However, it wasn't like I couldn't catch up quickly what with my grade being the highest in the class and all.

As I drove the familiar route to my high school, I hoped that Duncan would hear back from the owner of the unused lot close to home. I really wanted him to have his own business, but I'd also like it if it was close to home so he could still be involved in the family. I giggled to myself, I was so selfish. Just thinking about my needs all the time.

I pulled into the parking lot and stepped out of the car. It felt good to be surrounded by fresh air instead of the sickly smell and feeling I got inside my own house.

Entering the hallways, students stopped to say hello to me; classmates waving to me and I waved back weakly. It was strange what one week can do to people. And when I entered class and took my seat, who to say hello to me then one of the most popular girls in school, Dana. It shocked me for a moment, but I recollected myself so I wouldn't seem stupid. Though I have to admit, just being so aware and nervous in her presense made me feel stupid due to the fact that she was a good 4 years younger than me and I'm a married woman with children. She's just some high school girl, but to them, so am I and I feel the pressures just as much as the rest of them..

"Hi there, where have you been all week Hon? Vacationing maybe?" I giggled at the thought.

"I wish. No, I was stuck in bed with the flu all week." Dana laughed at the way I wistfully said it and flipped back her blonde hair. Why would she think that being sick was funny?

"So, listen, me and my girls want to ask you to have lunch with us. You must get lonely eating in the library all the time. We're going out after school today too; for drinks. Wanna join?" I nodded heartily, I needed to get out of the house once in awhile. One time wouldn't be too bad right?

"It sounds like a lot of fun, I'd be happy to join you." Our conversation was abrupted to a halt when the teacher shifted our attention onto her. The lesson began and I smiled, some fun in high school wouldn't be too bad. I was owed some fun.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"So cutie, why've you been hiding from us all this time?" I swallowed the martini I was drinking heartily and giggled. These kids were so much fun. Not to mention that the guys were smoking hot. Each girl in the room was lounged across a hot guys lap, flirting with each other now and then, definitely not excluding myself. I was lounged across this guy called Matt and he was a mega hottie.

"I wasn't hiding, I've just been secluded from society." I hiccuped and everyone laughed along with me.

"Secluded from society, huh? Like a princess trapped away in a tower and a mean scary dragon keeping her locked in," one of the girls, I think she said her name was Claire, giggled. Hearing the word 'princess' sobered me up some and the guilt weighing down on me almost crushed me when I realized all this time I'd been out with Dana and the group, Duncan has been at home looking after the twins.

Trying to stand, I spoke groggily, "I really need to get," a hiccup overcame me for a moment, "back to Duncan." More laughs echoed through the room from the hiccup but I saw Matt look up at me seriously.

"Aw c'mon, don't leave yet; this party is just getting started," he told me, holding out his hand probably so he could pull me back down to him.

"Party?" I asked, raising my eyebrow. I do like to party...

"Well sure, it's Friday so why not party," Dana said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Right now, what she said did make perfect sense.. I had skipped out on my partying days when I got knocked up and had to drop out...

"It is Friday, and I can always help Duncan look after Alex and Devon all weekend when I'm not studying," I thought quietly, in a way convincing myself it was alright to stay and party.

"Alright, I'll stay," I announced with a smile, letting Matt lead me back down to the seat while the group let out little cheers.

"That's my girl," Matt whispered into my ear, his hot breath running over my skin and making a shiver run down my spine. If I were sober, I probably would've shot him a look and declared myself Duncan's girl, but I wasn't sober and in fact a little tipsy so I just knocked another drink back and smiled.

"So Courtney, who is this mysterious Duncan anyway?" This girl, I think her name was Melissa, said. I thought to myself, I was so tipsy, my thoughts weren't clear and I said, "He's nobody, just someone dragging me from my right to party!" The group laughed along with me as we all got up from our chairs. I was confused for a moment.

"Where are we going?" The girls in front of me smiled easily and said, "Where do you think we're going? We're going to party at one of the nicest clubs in town!" I smiled and didn't even consider the thought that we probably couldn't get in.

"I have nothing to wear though, I can't go to a club looking like a schoolgirl!" I giggled at my own outburst before the girls dragged me to a bathroom. "That's where we come in sweetie." The girls made me discard my capris, T-shirt and sneakers for a black leather skirt, stilettos and a tube top. "We always have extra clothes handy, just in case." They coaxed my hair out of the elastic, shook it out around me and put some make-up on me while others changed beside me.

When we left the bathroom, not only did I look major different, I felt major different. I was free, no kids, no husband, no worries. Just an ######## senior having some fun on a Friday night.

I didn't even pay attention to how Dana got us into the club, I just knew that all us girls were walking arm in arm into the club and the people in line to get in were all wolf-whistling and calling out random compliments. I was kinda too tipsy to actually asses the situation I was in.

I'd never been to a club before so the full impact on a tipsy mind was exhilarating. Lights, everywhere! People pulled me onto the dance floor and it was fun. Grinding left and right, I've never seen, let alone been a part of, so much dirty dancing in my life!

Matt pulled me up against him as he put his hands on my waist. I pulled away for a moment before asking him, "What the hell are you doing?" Matt laughed at me before pointing to Dana doing the same thing with a guy I've never even seen before. I turned and looked around, all the girls and guys in the clique I guess I was now in, were doing the same exact thing.

"I don't know how," I explained softly and embarrassingly, blushing. Matt laughed at my shyness. "I'll show you, just go with the flow." He got up behind me and put his hands on my hips again and grinded with my hips. It was fun and weirdly...alluring. I put my hands around his neck sexily and had a blast. We all stopped for drinks, and after another margarita, Matt and I were the stars of the dance floor.

Matt pulled in for a kiss and I almost allowed it. Honestly, if it wasn't for the smell of alcohol on him, I would have made out with him then and there. Gosh the alcohol was a terrible influence on me. I pushed him away while wrinkling my nose in disgust. "Ugh, you smell disgusting!" Matt laughed at me and leaned in again. "Your nose is so cute when you do that, you know." His lips almost touched mine when I remembered that Duncan had told me the same thing this morning. Duncan! I had completely forgotten about him and the twins! I snapped back to reality instantly and pushed Matt away again before running to Dana who was grinding with some strangers.

"Dana, I need to leave now. Thanks for the amazing time, but where did you put my clothes?" Dana looked at me and winked. "In my bag on that table over there. You sure you gotta leave so soon honey? I could use another grind partner." I nodded frantically and Dana sighed. "Wear something nicer on Monday, you're part of our club now doll-face." I giggled a bit, I had become just a slight bit more sober.

I dashed to grab my clothes and left the club in a hurry to get to the nearest bathroom. I changed quickly, splashed some water on my face, brushed my teeth-who doesn't carry an emergency toothbrush?- and sprayed some perfume so I didn't totally reek of alcohol. I checked my watch that told me it was only eight fifteen. I could make it home in ten minutes, I calculated shortly. I drove home quickly, thinking up excuses to why I'm so late; kinda pleased with myself on being able to drive after all the drinks. I pulled into the driveway and unlocked the door. Once I stepped in I was greeted with shouts of joy from my two kids.

"Mommy!"

"Where have you been Mama?!" They rushed into my arms and I pulled them close and swung them around. It was only then that I looked up and caught the slightly stern face of my husband. Said man pulled the kids out of my arms and I let them go unwillingly. "Come on kids, it's time for bed and daddy needs to talk with mommy." I cringed slightly and put my coat on the couch. I got myself a cup of water and hastily ate a cracker before I headed back and saw Duncan sitting on the couch looking at me quite amusingly yet still stern.

"Would you care to tell me why you are so late Darling?" He dragged out the 'Darling' which made me feel gallons of guilt for ever thinking of touching Matt. I sat next to him and lay down on his lap without thinking; still just slightly buzzed. His hands didn't dare stroke my hair so I took that as a bad sign.

"No big deal Duncan. I just stayed after school to study, you know because I was so behind in everything." I smiled when I finished glad that I had been able to lie so easily, though still feeling the guilt from having to even lie to my husband in the first place. Duncan raised his eyebrows at me. "And you couldn't just call to let me know this because?" I sighed, I forgot I had a cell phone in my bag. "I lost track of time and you know the library, no cell phones allowed. Besides my phone was on silent so I couldn't hear if you called." Duncan nodded and relaxed a bit.

"I missed you honey." I sat up and kissed his cheek, he moaned slightly before grabbing me in his arms and sitting me up. "You have no idea how much you worried me Princess." I felt a bit guilty about that but I shrugged it off, knowing that I'd probably feel even worse if I told him the truth. "So how was school today Darling? I bet it was pretty busy with all your work and all."

"Yeah it was busy, but I made some new friends and they really like me so I got to hang out with them today." "Thats good Babe." He leaned down to kiss me and I immediately allowed. No need for Duncan to know about my partying and what my new friends and I really do. And no need for Duncan to know about Matt; it was a one time thing. We could do something else next week, like go see a movie or something.

No big deal.


	12. It Gets worse

**U guys i am so so so so so sorry.... i know i told you i would update three weeks ago but my mom grounded me for three weeks and i couldent upload....i'm sorry if you dont like the content of this chapter but the next chapter will have the big fight scene and some major drama. i know some of you are upset that courtney cheated on Duncan and it only gets worse hre...but dont worry its nothing serious and C/D will always prevail. hope you guys like it! oh and i SOLEMENLY SWEAR to update by thursday!!!! i have it all worked out i just need to type it then send it to my beta. Kudos to my beta _Because Love is WAY Overrated!!! I 3 her so much hahaha! hope u guys like it! (again lol)_**

I couldn't wait to get out of the house and back to my new friends after that Friday night. Compared to the party I had just been to less than forty-eight hours ago, my house was close to the most boring place in my mind's eye.

Don't get me wrong, I love being home; spending time with my husband and kids not only a priority, but also a pleasure. It was just that life at home was so…boring. Nothing at home could compare to the blinding lights, hot music and the guilty pleasure of dancing with a hot guy I had barely known before that night.

Come school that next Monday, I had planned my outfit so carefully that I had to change something every hour. I knew it would all be worth it though because with the new outfit came the chance to actually be somebody instead of a geeky nobody.

"Courtney, you're going to school dressed like that?" No sooner than I stepped out of the bathroom on Monday morning, my husband was looking me over with a disapproving look in his eye; lecturing me. Was that an all time record for Duncan?

"Yes I am. Why, do you have a problem with how I look?" Duncan raised his eyebrows at me and leaned against the doorframe. "No, in fact you look very hot babe. It's just that I'm wondering, since when do you go to school in a tube top and eyeliner? Not to mention the very short skirt if I might say." I sighed and rolled my heavily made up eyes at him, a part of me-rather huge part at that-already knowing that he would've brought up this whole topic before letting me out the door.

"Gee Duncan, since when did you care how short my skirts are and how much cleavage my shirts show?" He was about to answer before I interrupted him. "Since never, and you're not about to start now," I added icily before stopping and beginning to realize what I had just said to my husband. What was that?

Duncan looked taken aback but kept his cool, knowing that blowing up was not the smartest solution when it came to me. "Gee, I'm sorry sweetheart care to put some ice on that burn for me?" I felt guilty and went over, rubbing his shoulders for him; quickly thinking up an excuse for my attitude.

"I'm sorry baby, I didn't mean it. I'm just cranky from little sleep last night." Duncan scoffed and moved away from me while heading to the twin's room even though there wasn't a sound coming from them. I figured that there wouldn't be reasoning with him now so it would be pointless to be late to school for nothing.

While I walked down the hallways I couldn't help but feel a bit shy about what had happened on Friday. Did the whole school know by now? I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they did since even the smallest rumors spread like a forest fire around here, but nothing seemed different. Students headed to their classes with none giving me too strange glares.

"Hey, Courtney!" Dana's voice snapped me out of my trance. I glanced up at her and she waved me over. Right away, my nerves picked up; afraid of what she would think after Friday and more importantly of my choice in clothes today. Though upon actually walking over to her and reaching her little gang, there was some kind of look of approval on her features as she looked me over.

"I am loving that skirt Court," she said, the nickname making me feel accepted amongst the posh group.

"Thanks," I blushed, fingers twitching with the urge to pull at the hem of my skirt out of a nervous habit. After that, we all just kinda started talking; not paying attention to anything outside of our little circle of friends. It was only when someone came up behind me to nuzzle his nose into my hair while strong arms wrapped around my waist did I acknowledge something else; a sharp gasp escaping through my glossy lips.

"Hmm, your hair smells delicious," Matt greeted me as I tried to squirm out of his hold. Finally breaking free, I put on a weak smile as I turned to talk to him.

"Er, thanks," I said lamely, not sure what else there was to say as guilt weighed down on me.

"It's about f***ing time you got here Matt," Dana threw out harshly, shooting him a look with her perfectly made-up eyes; heavy eyelashes framing them and making the green color really pop.

"Oh don't get your thong in a bunch. I'm here now, aren't I?" Matt defended himself, shooting her a look in return while I just kinda stood in between the two; feeling about as out of place as one could. Looking around, I saw that everyone else seemed to be fine with the way the pair was talking to each other.

"Am I seriously the only one that doesn't do this kind of stuff?" I thought, feeling very meek amongst the group and to be honest a bit like an outsider looking in extremely awkwardly.

"Yeah well you're a whole hour late. First period is almost over and we were supposed to be out of here thirty minutes ago," Dana reminded him and my eyes widened.

"First period is almost over?" I squeaked; my breath coming in a short little gasp of a sort.

"Well duh," Claire chimed in, flipping her hair. "First period is so boring so we almost never go. I mean, seriously, that teacher is so strict! She totally needs to get laid." This brought along some giggles from the girls and simple nods from any of the guys sitting around; a knowing smirk on their lips.

"Missing class isn't a problem Court, right?" Dana began, drawing everyone's attention back to her. "I mean, if you aren't ok with this you can just go there now and say you woke up late. I'm sure since you've never been late before the teacher will excuse this without much trouble." The innocent way she batted her eyelashes made a sinking feeling form in my stomach as I felt my hands begin to sweat with nerves.

"Yeah, because we were going to blow off school today and go screw around at the mall and I'd love to have you there with us," Matt added in.

His voice held a low seductive tone; drawing me in with alluring, unspoken promises. I felt myself clinging to every word he spoke to me like some crazed fan of the Backstreet Boys back when they were popular and the thought made me feel like such a naive little girl; yet at the same time I kinda liked it. I enjoyed having the chance to be an unknowing teenager again and to have the opportunity to ditch class and screw around like all of them did while I was stuck at home raising two kids and living with a husband.

"This is my chance. If I don't take this, they may never extend this invite to me again and then I'll just be a big nobody again; left to remember my fifteen minutes of fame," I thought grimly before my gaze hardened with determination.

"No, it's fine. I'm good to go," I confirmed and they all smiled, Matt taking my hand and giving it a squeeze.

"That's my girl," he whispered into my ear just like Friday night, his hot breath fanning over my ear and neck and sending delicious chills coursing through my body.

"Lets go then. Court you don't mind driving with Matt, do you?" Dana asked, looking over her should as she walked away. I stole a quick glance at said guy still standing next to me and felt my heartbeat speed up while butterflies exploded in my stomach..

"No, not at all."

And with that, I let him lead me to his car; having no clue what I was getting myself into. All I knew was that I liked this new feeling and I didn't want it to stop any time soon.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

When I entered Matt's car again for the last time that day not only did I look different, I felt different. We had hung at the mall all day, then stopped at a local bar to grab a few drinks. I had made sure Matt was sober enough to drive me home before getting in the car with him.

It felt so strange to be a teen again. I had experienced so many things that I would have never experienced even if I hadn't gotten knocked up and continued with school.

The drive was quick and short, due to the fact my house was only a few miles from the mall. It was a pretty silent ride due to the fact that I was concentrating on becoming more sober by the minute. I couldn't resist having one more drink than the rest of the group due to my like of alcohol so I was slightly less sober than the rest of them.

Matt pulled up to my house in silence before whistling slightly at the sight of the place. It was slightly bigger than the usual suburban house, but I liked it and I had Duncan to thank. Reminding myself of Duncan and the kids, I stepped out of the car and thanked Matt briefly.

I squinted my eyes at the strong light coming down on me from what was left of the sun, and opened to door to the house. I was greeted with the familiar sight of the twins in their playpen and Duncan lounging on the couch, but instead of him reading some book or sketching he was on the phone excitedly talking to someone. He noticed my presence and held up a finger which indicated he'd be with me in a minute.

After lavishing my twins with hugs and kisses and the usual greeting, Duncan hung up and lifted me in his arms and swung me around excitedly. I couldn't help but giggle as he kissed my cheeks excitedly much like Owen had done to Izzy after he won TDI.

"Babe, you'll never believe what happened!" He put me down and I couldn't help but wonder if he was still mad from this morning.

"You forgave me from this morning and you won plane tickets to Hawaii?" I guessed. He shook his head no vigorously and told me to keep guessing. "Chris Mclean is dead?" He laughed but shook his head again and he said he would tell me.

"I found this unused, open lot in Toronto that I could use for my store. I called and he sold it to me! Isn't that amazing babe?!" My face broke out into a smile but faltered a bit when I fully realized the situation we were in. Duncan noticed my smile falter and reached forward to caress my cheek. "What's wrong babe? Aren't you happy for me? For us?" I nodded and touched the hand on my face.

"I am happy Hon, it's just that it's in Toronto, and that's far from here. It's a four hour drive and what about the kids? What if there was an emergency and I couldn't reach you in time, and how would you drive four hours every day just to get to work?" I could have went on for another few hours but Duncan put his finger on my lips, silencing me.

"If there was another choice closer to home I would take it, but I really want this Courtney. I was given an opportunity, and how could I not take it? And we have a while to figure out the long distance thing, So relax Darling and be happy for me." I smiled wider this time and jumped into his arms. He was right, we had awhile to worry about it.

"Glad you're happy, but about this morning..." He trailed off when I crashed my lips against his. No need to open up partially healed wounds, right? He backed off for a minute before licking his lips and giving me a confused yet stern expression.

"Court, have you been drinking?" I flinched a bit; I forgot that he could probably taste the alcohol from the martinis and vodka I chugged at the bar less than two hours ago. I turned my gaze back to my husband who's eyes were taking in my nervous expression.

"My friends and I stopped at a bar after school, it was a special occasion. It won't happen again I promise." Duncan took in my semi-serious expression and held me close again. "Alright babe, but if anything is wrong you know you can talk to me, you know that right?" I nodded at him and pressed my lips to his again.

What Duncan didn't know wouldn't hurt him, I assured myself of that. Besides things couldn't go downhill from here, right?

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Over the next two months, I felt myself change drastically; not only physically but mentally too. No longer was I the straight A student that Duncan thought I was. I missed dozens of classes while ditching with my friends, and missed half the homework, resulting in me failing that half of my classes. The other half of my classes I spent talking to my new posse, earning detentions then skipping them later with my friends.

I also earned one of many titles of school ####, I was the third in my little clique to have this title and the other two told me to take it as a compliment. But the other students were right, I dressed worse and worse each week. I wore heavy makeup even when it wasn't necessary, and wore more revealing outfits. I also took to putting blond highlights in my hair.

What was even more strange, was that Duncan was oblivious to it all.

He didn't notice the outfits, me coming home later and later, me not doing my homework, and my devotion and attention to the kids dwindling. I even started cursing in front of them, sometimes directed at them. Sometimes I wondered if Duncan was really that oblivious, but a few makeout sessions and nights in bed with him made him less noticing towards my attitude. At least I thought so.

Today started like any other day: I dressed in my skimpy outfit, applied my makeup, barely took notice of my kids or husband, then rushed out to meet Dana and the girls as she picked me up in her car.

"Hey my little honey babe! Today we got something real special planned out for everyone. We gonna skip again today, ok?" I rolled my eyes at her and nodded. "Of course it's ok Dana-licious. Hasn't bothered me for months." She smiled and nodded in approval then started driving.

We drove far, to one of the well known all day clubs and bars. It was sleazy, and there was booze and drugs everywhere, but it didn't bother me. Nothing of this sort bothered me anymore.

Hours were passed, grinding, making out, drinking and others smoking. There was a big secret I was keeping from Duncan. While Duncan and I were getting farther apart, Matt and I were getting closer. We only shared a couple kisses, but who did they hurt, really? What he doesn't know can't harm him and I have no intentions of telling Duncan so everything will be fine.

At around six, we all gathered at a table for more drinks. Dana leaned in and whispered to us all silently. "Guys, you would never believe what me and Caitlin scored." Everyone leaned in eagerly, including me. I wonder what she was talking about?

"We scored some pot. Who wants first dibs? Court?" I gasped, would I sink as low as to using drugs just to keep some stupid reputation? I leaned forward and Dana smiled and poured some in my hands.

Yes, yes I would.


	13. Where Courtney Gets Caught and the FIght

**I know ya'll want to kill me for not updating on thursday; but it's a long story and I explained it in the new chapter of Untouched, so if you really care and want to read it; its there. Lots of drama here and the next chapter will be in Duncan's POV so u'll get a little of what he does after he....i'll just let u read! Have fun, Kudos to my beta Because Love Is WAY Overrated, and remember D/C ALWAYS prevails! especially in my stories hee hee :P ENJOY!!**

I stole quietly into my home, unlocking the door and stepping inside as quietly as I coul;. my mind still a bit befuddled from my illegal drug use earlier that evening. No way could I let Duncan find out I had just gotten home, seeing as it was three-fricking-a.m. for gods sakes. It wasn't like I cared though, I was having fun with my friends.

I put my bag on the table close to the door; looking down the whole while and trying to be as quiet as I could as to not wake my husband or my sleeping three-year-olds.

I looked up for a moment and my heart nearly fell out of my behind. There was Duncan, looking up at me with the strangest expression on his face.

"Decided to finally come home huh? It's three in the morning Courtney...where the hell were you?" I absentmindedly played with a blonde lock of my hair and focused on not looking Duncan straight in the eye.

"Hi, Duncan....umm, what are you doing up so late?" Duncan's strange expression didn't falter, it seemed to get angrier while he crossed his arms across his chest; obviously not pleased with me trying to change the subject.

"You promised you would be home earlier tonight. When you weren't I got worried and you didn't answer your phone so what else could I do? What if you hadn't come home? What if you got into some sort of accident and I couldn't reach you?" I sighed and ran my hands against my newly highlighted hair. What was Duncan's problem? He's such a drama queen.

"I'm home now and nothing happened so what's the problem?" Duncan sighed frustratedly and stood up, his strange expression changing to one of worry and anger. "It's three in the morning and you ask me what's the problem? Do you know how worried I was that something happened to you?"

"Nothing happened, I'm going to bed," I stated tiredly before coughing heavily; damn pot. Duncan was really starting to get on my nerves. I mean common! nothing happened and I could've done a lot worse. In fact I could've stayed out all night and not come home at all.. That'd really piss off 'mother-hen' Duncan. Said man came up to me, not quite full out hugging me just yet, but came close and put his hands lightly on my shoulders.

"Listen Courtney, I'm just concerned. You've been acting really different lately and don't think that I haven't noticed. Because I have and honestly, I don't know who you are anymore." The nerve! He didn't know who I was anymore?! I didn't know who he was anymore! I couldn't count how many times I had walked in and seen him hanging out with that Gwen! She was always flirting with him and she supposedly is engaged to Trent! And the worst part is that she was being like a mother to my babies! My babies! I hated that Gwen more than anything.

I wanted to say all this to Duncan but no sooner had I uttered a sound a sudden rush of vertigo hit me and I swayed on my feet. If Duncan hadn't been there holding my shoulders I probably would've collapsed on the floor. "You know what Duncan? Just...whatever. Let me go to bed." I tried to sidestep him but he held me firmly.

"Baby, I just want to know that you're safe. Just something to keep me at peace. It wouldn't hurt if you picked up the phone once in a while to tell me you're alright, maybe call me and let me know when you're running late." I smacked his hands off my shoulders angrily. Who the hell did he think he was?

"What are you, my babysitter? My father? Lay off!" Duncan's eyes darkened and he examined me closely. For a moment there I really felt eighteen again; like Duncan really was my father.

"Courtney, I am your husband so I do have the right to be worried about you." I pouted and crossed my arms across my chest. He sure wasn't acting like a husband. He was acting like...like...well not Matt. Matt would think this was cool. Matt would scoop me up and take me to the nearest bed and make wild, passionate love to me.

The thought of sex felt like a gigantic slap in the face. Matt and I had never made love to each other, let alone have sex. But Duncan had; thats how I ended up pregnant in the first place.

The man before me reached toward my face and pushed back some of my highlighted hair. I could see in his eyes that he was really worried about me. Some part of me, a tiny part that was the actual me that had been shrinking over the past few months tried to come through. She tried to tell me to stop yelling and acting like a brat and have everything go back to normal. The problem was, I had gone too far.. That sane little part was too small for me to actually believe. I knew things would never go back to normal after this.

"Listen to me Courtney. I'm begging you, I love you. Please tell me you still love me and that you'll be alright." I stammered for a bit; why couldn't I just rush into his arms, forget everything and go back to loving him like I did only a mere two months ago? I scanned my brain but truthfully, I couldn't find the answer anymore... Tears of frustration filled my eyes but I wouldn't let any fall. This was the new me; I had to be strong. Unfortunately Duncan saw my eyes glisten and put his arms around me while inhaling deeply. Duncan stopped and let go of me after a second while having a huge scowl on his face and his face reddened just a bit.

"Courtney....is that, marijuana?" Duncan's voice got angrier by each word he spoke and I looked down uncomfortably.

"No....maybe.....so?" I said lamely, repeating the same thing Tyler had said to me when admitting to hanging out with Lindsay years ago.

"So?! Are you fu***** kidding me!? This is illegal drugs we're talking about here, and you're just saying it as if you don't care! What the hell are you doing when you go to school!?" Why was he blowing up on me like this? Why now? Since when did he care? All of these questions ran through my head as I stood up firmly and gave Duncan a heavy scowl. No longer was I going to be the ######## little girl getting yelled at and crying her eyes out.

"I'm doing nothing Duncan! At least nothing that concerns you! Besides, pot is cool; it's what the popular kids are doing!" Did those words seriously just come out of my mouth? The little part inside of me was ashamed and for the first time in months, I agreed with her. What was I becoming? I glanced at Duncan; his mouth was open in shock and he paled just a bit but the expression most clearly written across his face was shame, and disappointment.

"Popular? Are you serious? Since when have you **_ever_** cared about being popular?!" Duncan's face flared; he was that mad. That little, sensible part inside of me screamed that I _didn't_ care about being popular, I was just acting like a total bi*** and my mind was warped. The more she screamed, the more I was beginning to understand her, yet the fun part inside of me completely disagreed with her. That part of me wanted to continue yelling at Duncan, then to get in bed with him and have sex. My already warped mind listened to the fun part of me, it wasn't like it failed me yet.

"Since always! I'm popular now! I fit in, I'm a normal Teenager!" Duncan rolled his eyes; apparently my statement didn't make much sense to him either. "Like pot is helping? What else have you done behind my back to be 'cool?'"

"None of your business!"

"Like hell it is my business!"

"Like hell it isn't!"

"Bull! This is so messed up, especially for someone like you! You can't be doing these things!" He was right, yet I have been doing these things for months. "Says who?" I demanded to know, tired of my supposed 'husband' telling me what to do and acting like my dad.

"You have kids! You cant do things like that!" His words left me thinking. When was the last time I had even touched, let alone talked to my kids? A wave of guilt washed over myself but I just swam back up and kept up with the attitude.

"Yes I can, it hasn't stopped me yet!" I yelled. This back and forth went on for another few minutes until Duncan noticed that I wasn't really listening to his ranting.

"Courtney, why aren't you acting responsible? You know what's right and you're acting like a child!" I was, I really was. Couldn't he see that I needed help? That I needed to be brought back down to reality? Words slipped out of my tongue faster than my common sense would stop them..

"I am not acting like a child! You're not the boss of me!" Duncan pulled me close to him and put his hands on my face. I could see that he understood..

"Darling, you need to calm down and grow up. As it is we both needed to grow up faster than normal because of the kids and now you're throwing all that away and for what? Some stupid popularity? You aren't acting like yourself." No I wasn't, I really wasn't! But I couldn't help it! Suddenly I was really eighteen again and I felt it.

"I am myself! Don't you see that?! I'm eighteen, what do you want from me?! I love drinking and kissing and grinding and having no responsibilities!" I was sick, I knew it. Sick in the head. Why was I acting like this? I couldn't stop. Duncan looked at me as if I was crazy, which I probably was. I felt bad for him, I wanted everything to go back to normal but...

"Courtney, what are you talking about? You're not eighteen, you're almost twenty-one. You're just acting like you're eighteen."

"I want to be eighteen." I wanted everything to go back to normal.

"You won't be, you can't be! Yes, having the kids cut short our teenage years but it's still nothing that I regret!" Duncan tried to tell me.

"Why are you being such an ass?!"

"Why are you being such a brat!?"

A loud crack spread out across the room, I looked up and gaped. Did I actually just do that? To prove it, Duncan's cheek was red and he rubbed it carefully while looking at me in awe. I just smacked Duncan. His eyes were filled with pain and anger.

"Courtney, I don't know you anymore. You're doing drugs behind my back, completely ignoring the kids and myself and you...just smacked me for no apparent reason."

"You called me a brat," I stated simply. He rolled his eyes and shook me a little. "Hello! Earth to Princess! Do you know how stupid you're acting right now?"

"Matt wouldn't think it's stupid." I gasped when I realized what I had just said. I had let it out, the only secret Duncan didn't know. Duncan's eyes narrowed, he turned pale for a moment before turning red. He was angry, very angry.

"Who the fu** is Matt?!" I had to put it out in the open, Duncan loved me and he deserved to know.

"The guy I've been...I've been.." I swallowed and took a deep breath "The guy I've been cheating on behind your back with!" I hung my head as Duncan's teal eyes widened into the size of dinner plates.

"A-and who might that be?" Duncan said uneasily yet angrily. "S-some douche bag that you want? If you like him better, then go move in with him! Go have kids with him! If you like him so much get the divorce papers ready!" Duncan was hurt I could tell, but that was nothing to what I felt. He wanted a...a...divorce? I couldn't blame him but...oh.

"Duncan..." Duncan turned away from me, he was really hurt. "Courtney just leave me the hell alone."

"Duncan...I'm-" I couldn't say it. He wouldn't accept it. Duncan sat on the couch; his expression hurt, angry yet strong. This sounded like the totally wrong time but he was very sexy when he looked like that.

"Why is it always me who has to adjust to things? Your attitude, your mood swings, the kids, and now...your cheating? How is that fair?"

"Because it's all your fault!"

"Oh so it's all _my_ fault now? Amuse me, how is it Darling?"

"Um excuse me, number one fact here! **_You_** got me knocked up!"

"It was a two person thing Courtney! I wasn't the one begging to do it, I wasn't the only one who forgot to use the condom!"

"You ruined my life!" A small squeaking noise interrupted us both as we stared towards the hallway entrance. Alex was whimpering in the doorway, clearly terrified. Our yelling must have woken her up. "Mommy? Daddy?" Her scared little voice made me want to go and comfort her but my feet wouldn't move. Duncan went over and scooped her up into his arms and rubbed her back.

"Baby what's wrong?" Alex whimpered into his chest while staring at the both of us. I felt bad, but I couldn't do anything. "Daddy, I'm scared."

"See what you caused Courtney?!"

"Me!? It's all your fault!" Duncan's face faltered before hardening up a bit and his mouth set into a hard line. "Oh, sure. Nice one Courtney." He walked away into our room where I could hear some clothes rustling. He walked out with a small bag, his jacket and the keys to the car. Before I could process what was happening he kissed Alex's head and set her down.

"I'm leaving."

I couldn't make myself say anything but "how long?" Duncan shrugged. "Don't know, don't care. Have fun with your new boyfriend." Alex started crying and I lifted her up out of instinct.

"Goodbye Courtney." He turned around and lingered at the front door for a moment and without turning back he left. And I could tell he was going far away and wasn't going to be back soon..

What had I done? Tears fell down my cheeks and I didn't stop them from running down my daughters. How could I let the one man I had ever loved in my life walk out. And I didn't even try to stop him. I walked over to the twin's playpen and dropped Alex in there before curling up on the couch and letting the tears run freely down my cheeks.

What have I done?


	14. In which Duncan's gone

**Ok so here ya'll go! it's a bit early but I want to get to the good stuff as soon as possible! Sad chapter, I recommend listening to it along with _I Hate This Part_ by the pussycat dolls; this chapter has nothing to do with the lyrics but it adds to the drama and it's a sad song and I listened to it while writing it so I should know. Enjoy!**

I stormed out of the house, leaving everything I really cared about behind. I could hear Alex crying, and it hurt, but I needed to leave. To process everything that had happened in the last hour and to blow off lots, and lots of steam. I got into the car and drove off, not making it farther than the park before I decided I needed to calm down a bit before I did anything really dangerous. I walked over to a park bench, sat down and put my head in my hands, letting all my thoughts come through.

She was cheating on me? With a high schooler? What the hell did I do wrong? Did I say or do something that would make her act like this, that would make her revert to drugs? I sighed frustratedly and ran a hand roughly through my shaggy, almost completely grown out hair.

Why? That was the question that ran through my mind every few milliseconds. I was so mad, so infuriated, so....hurt. Did this mean that she didn't love me anymore? I saw almost as much sadness in her eyes as I felt that there was in mine. I shook off the feeling of seeing her sad. I couldn't feel compassion for her now, yet how could I still love her? She fricking cheated on me for gods-sakes!

I needed to talk to someone about this, a good friend. DJ is too inexperienced, I did not want to know what Geoff was doing with Bridgette at this very hour and Gwen...said she would have the apartment to herself because Trent was on tour! I quickly whisked out my cell thanking myself for having the sense to bring it with me. I dialed and waited, hoping to god Gwen would wake up and answer me.

"Hello?" A cranky, sleepy voice answered and I sighed in relief.

"Gwen, it's Duncan." It was chilly outside and I shivered slightly, hoping it wouldn't rain soon.

"Duncan? What's wrong? Is everything okay? Did Courtney make it home alright?" That last question left me laughing bitterly. "Oh, she made it home alright," I answered sarcastically. "Gwen, something bad happened. I really need someone to talk to. Would you let me crash for the night?"

"Sure, no problem. Come soon, alright? Before I pass out." Gwen chuckled and hung up leaving me in the same state as before. I felt a drop of water hit me on the head and I shook my head. The drops came down heavily until it really was pouring heavily. I groaned in discomfort as I changed my position on the bench.

I was miserable. What the hell am I going to do now? I love her and I can't deny it; even if she cheated on me. Clearly she didn't feel the same. I didn't know what was going on with her. The Courtney I once knew was gone, and replaced by some effing stranger I didn't want. Where was she; my Princess, the one and only. Drops of water streaked my face and I knew that half of them weren't rain. I wiped my face and eyes and got up and headed to my car; soaking wet.

I drove off and blinked back tears. Why was I crying? I should be angry, infuriated! I should be strong, this would all blow through; though as much as I denied it I knew I was hurt and I had to wipe my eyes repeatedly.

The only good part about the rain; no one can tell that you're crying.

After a long annoying ride, I arrived to my destination.

"You look like crap Duncan," Gwen stated when she opened the door and let me in. Smiling bitterly, I muttered out a thanks while pulling off my coat and tossing it on her floor. "There are such things as coat hangers you know," the goth reminded me and I didn't even waste time in replying; simply taking off my shoes before walking over to her couch and plopping down with a groan.

I heard Gwen's footsteps as she approached me and heard the deep intake of breath, signaling she was worried about me. "So what happened?" she finally asked, taking a seat on the couch as well.

"Came home, lied to me about where she was, and smelt like drugs. Admitted to cheating with some high school punk and she isn't even sure if she loves me anymore." I said it all on one breath, spilling all the shit that had happened not even an hour before. Therapists lie. Talking about it does not make you feel any better; it makes you feel worse.

"Oh my... Duncan I-." She stopped there, seemingly left without words when I told her what Courtney had done. "This just... it doesn't sound like her; at all," Gwen finally finished and I laughed bitterly.

"But it is her. This is the new and _improved _Courtney!" I explained, shooting up from my seat; suddenly not able to keep still. I began pacing the length of the room; struggling each time I got to the walls not to punch them.

Anger was coursing through my system and I was beginning to see red; the sound of my heart beat pounding in my ears as my body pulsed with the fast, erratic rhythm. "Duncan, I know it may be hard to do, but you need to get some sleep.. It may help a little," Gwen suggested and after a while of silence I finally sat down on the couch.

"Do you want me to bring you out a blanket or pillow?" she offered but I only shook my head; lying down and turning so that my back was to her. There was a sigh before Gwen left the room; finally leaving me to myself as I shook on the couch and tried not to break down. What seemed like just twenty minutes later, I was awoken by the sound of a phone ringing and Gwen rushing into the living room. A glance at the clock on the wall told me it was almost 9:30 and that I had probably managed to get 3 hours of sleep; oh boy.

I was busy rubbing the sleep away from my eyes when Gwen gently touched my shoulder; calling my attention silently.

"It's Courtney," she whispered to me and I froze on the spot; unable to breathe..

o-o-o-o-o-o

I paced around the bedroom; too anxious, upset, and worried to even think about sleeping. I hastily wiped my eyes again for the fiftieth time that minute. Duncan was gone for at least three hours and it was pouring. I felt so incredibly guilty, and the kids waking up and crying every two minutes and asking where Duncan was only made me feel worse.

I felt like breaking down on the bed and not getting up for hours, but I couldn't. I had to be strong for the kids who were waking up every hour or so. If they saw me crying, then what would they think? I couldn't possibly tell them that I didn't know when or if their father was coming back. Just the thought of Duncan not coming back made my throat tighten and I stifled a small sob. Tears were now running freely down my cheeks as I tried to hastily wipe them away.

I was wrong. I should have never gotten mixed up with the wrong group at school, should have told everyone that I was married, and with kids and should have never, _ever_ gotten associated with Matt. I was a skank, a slut, and more. I knew it all now: I was horrible and I had no right to deny it. The twin's crying really got on my nerves then so I stomped into their room and lost it.

"Stop freaking crying! Can't you see that I have more to deal with than you two effing crying all the time! I don't know when your dad is coming back, or even if he's coming back! So really just shut up!" I was breathing heavily and full out crying by the end of my infuriated speech, wiping my eyes no longer an option at this point. I looked at the saddened faces of my kids and felt guilt immediately wash over me. I leaned over Devon's crib and frowned sadly while letting tears run down my face.

"I'm sorry baby. Mommy just needs time alone right now so I'd appreciate it of you guys were a bit quieter." I turned around and headed out the door, closing it behind me then heading to my own room where I proceeded to lay on Duncan and mine's bed and bury myself under the covers on Duncan's side; wearing his trademark skull T-shirt.

I lay there and cried. Cried for what a bit** I was, cried for Duncan, cried for the kids, cried for everything. I lay there for hours, while the kids stayed relatively quiet. When sleep didn't become an option, I proceeded to the alarm clock which said it was nine in the morning. Five hours...he's been gone for five hours. I wallowed miserably in the thought; he wasn't coming back, I knew it. I glanced up and glared at myself in the mirror; I was hideous and I hated my appearance. The girl staring back at me had my looks, but she wasn't me. I wasn't the girl in the mirror wearing so much makeup with my hair died. I wasn't the girl who cheated on my loving husband who had done nothing but support me through everything; no I couldn't be. But I was and the thought left me feeling sick.

I walked carefully to the bathroom where I set to scrubbing off every inch of makeup covering my face. When I looked again, only a smidgen remained and I groaned. Now, what the hell was I going to do about my hair? Even though I really wanted to, I knew that cutting all the chunks of yellow in my hair would be too drastic and that it would take me forever to grow back. I tried to tie my hair up but nothing helped.

Unable to stand the sight of myself anymore in the mirrors, I started breaking them. Not ten minutes later, all of the mirrors in my room and the bathroom were left shattered in pieces as blood ran down my arms all over and my throat was left sore and raw from screaming.

From my room, I could hear the twins crying again and a part of me wanted to scream at them to shut up again while the real part of me, the real Courtney, wanted to go comfort her children and tell them everything would be okay; that daddy would be walking through that door any minute now to make everything okay.

But he won't be walking through that door.... He's left me.. I thought before rushing into the bathroom and throwing up.. Flushing down the meager contents of my stomach, the rancid smell still remained so I quickly left the room and grabbed my cell phone; dialing the one number that came to mind.

"Gwen?" I sobbed out, lying on my side on the floor shaking pathetically. With Duncan leaving, I had been reduced to this useless and worthless girl on the ground that was only popular and liked because she screwed around and let people pressure her into changing everything about herself.

"Courtney? Are you alright?" Gwen asked, obviously sensing my distress even through the phone.

"D-duncan left," I sobbed, my chest aching painfully as I shook and cried.

"What?! Why?" she demanded to know and I told her.

"Because he deserves to! I've done nothing but neglect him and the twins since going back to that horrible school. God, Gwen, I messed up so badly. I... I cheated on Duncan. It wasn't anything hugely horrible like sex; just a few small kisses here and there and some dancing, but the way he looked at me. The disgust in his eyes when I told him." I stopped there, almost forgetting how to breathe as more sobs wracked my body.

"Courtney where are you?" Gwen asked, changing the subject.

"Lying on my bedroom floor. Gwen I need your help. There's blood and the twins are crying and I can't let them see me like this. Gwen, I cant sleep, I can't eat and I'm awfully scared. Please, I need your help," I pleaded and sobbed while hearing the sharp intake of breath from the other line.

"Courtney I'm coming now.. You need to try and stop the bleeding so that you don't loose consciousness. Courtney! Did you hear that?" she asked and I nodded, telling her that I understood and was going to grab a towel now. Before she hung up on me, there was one thing I had to add.

"Gwen?" I hesitantly asked, hoping to god I got the answer I hoped for.

"Yes Courtney?" I took a deep breath and went for it.

"I know this sounds really selfish of me to ask considering the circumstances and all but....When you came over here to hang with Duncan...You guys are just friends, right?" I heard a small chuckle on the other line and I forced a small smile.

"Of course Courtney! Why would you ever think that we were more? I'm engaged to Trent, remember?" I forced a small laugh just for Gwen's sake. Truthfully, I was relieved. That was one problem to get off my chest.

"One more thing Gwen?"

"Yeah?"

"If you see Duncan at all, would you let him know that...I'm sorry, that I miss him, and I want him to come home? Oh, and that...I still love him?" I heard Gwen sigh on the other line; not frustratedly, but happily somewhat.

"Sure thing, no problem. I'll be there soon alright? Remember to get a towel!"

"Right."

"Good. I'm on my way.." And then the line went dead. Instead of getting up and getting a towel like I promised, I stayed on the floor withering and shaking like a pathetic little girl.

How had I been reduced to this? Why had I let things get this far? I knew all the answers, but didn't have the heart to embrace them. I hid my face in my arms and lost it. Let it all go, killing myself on the inside.

Duncan was never coming back, and I was all to blame.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Courtney? Are you alright?" Gwen asked into the phone as she moved to go sit back on the couch.. It took me a few moments, but eventually I too had moved back to my original seat on the couch.

I watched Gwen as she talked to my wife; noting the way her eyes widened and lips parted from what Courtney said. Most of the time I was expecting Gwen to turn and glare at me for something horrible Courtney would tell her about me, but it never happened.

"Courtney where are you?" the goth asked, changing the subject. She's probably with Matt. I thought bitterly, crossing my arms and letting out a huff of air. Yet, I couldn't help but listen more attentively; what was wrong with her?

"Courtney I'm leaving now. You need to try and stop the bleeding so that you don't loose consciousness. Courtney! did you hear that?" Gwen asked loudly and I looked up with wide, worried, eyes upon hearing the word 'blood'.

Why is Courtney bleeding?

I tuned out for a bit, pondering on the thought. Had she done something to herself? Was she hurt? I couldn't help but worry. I put my head in my hands and didn't look up until Gwen started laughing.

"Of course Courtney! Why would you ever think that we were more? I'm engaged to Trent, remember?" What was that about? Did she think that...nah. She wouldn't be that stupid. Unless....What if did think that and that lead to her cheating? Not a chance. She'd have more sense than that. But considering the circumstances lately, I wasn't so sure anymore...

"Good. I'm on my way," Gwen said before hanging up and jumping from the couch.

"Come on Duncan, we have to go help Courtney." She said this while running to get her keys and pulling on some flip flops but I just stayed sitting on the couch.

"No," I said softly and she stopped to look at me.

"What did you just say?"

"I said no, I'm not going. If she needs help she can call her precious Matt," I bit out, glaring at the ground.

"What the hell is wrong with you Duncan?! It's Courtney! You're wife! She's hurt, bleeding, the twins are crying, and she's losing it! And it's all over you! So goddamn you if you don't go and help her! You can't just leave her!" Gwen yelled at me, obviously upset by my decision.

"I'm not going Gwen," I told her, the tone of my voice declaring it my final decision. Standing from the couch, I walked back over to where my things where and started pulling on my shoes.

"Besides, she needs to learn to take care of her own kids. Some time alone with them just might bring her back to reality."

"Duncan, she want's you to come home! She misses you and she still loves you! She's worried about you!" I froze, Gwen had to be making this up. If Courtney didn't want me to leave she would've said something to me when I left. She couldn't still love me, she cheated on me. I turned around angrily towards Gwen.

"Bull! She doesn't, She completely doesn't! If she had she would've never cheated on me!" I didn't have a real clue if what I was saying was true or not.

"Fine Duncan, don't help Courtney. Just turn your back on the only people who ever truly loved you!" Gwen yelled after me as I walked towards the car. When I shut the door it tuned out the sound of her voice, but I could still hear her words echoing through my head.

_The only people who ever truly loved you._


	15. Duncan's still gone, Courtney's a wreck

**Sorry for the excessivly long wait u guys :( but it took me and my beta 4EVER to finish writing this chapter!!! I think u guys'll like it, but maybe sorta not cuz of what happens. The fisrt part is in Duncans POV completely , then switches to Courtney, it'll get rlly obvious when it switches. THANKS A WHOLE MUNDO LOT TO MY AWESOME BETA _BecauseLoveisWAYOverrated!! _I forgot to give her mucho credit in the last chapter and that was totally wrong since she majorly helped me with Duncan's part!!! THANK U AND I 3 U SOO MUCH HAHAHAH!!! ok ok ok ok now on to the chapter!! its excessivly long and I hope u like it. Oh and here's the deal for the next chapter. it's the whole reunion scene with D/C (oh come on its not that much of a spoiler!!!!) and u guys will rlly wanna read it. Its gonna b veerrryyy muchy and romancey. So heres the deal, if I get more that ten reviews by friday night, I will update either on late friday or early saturday. I have everything for the chaptr all planned out and all I have to do is type it up, so the faster u goys review the faster u get the mushy romance scene!! and if I dont get ten reviews, i wont update till I do so its all up to you guys :D How much do you really want it???? hahah ENJOY!!!**

Driving away from Gwen's house and not turning to head back home was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Every fiber of my being was _screaming_ for me to go help Courtney; to take care of the family I love, but the part of my heart that still ached from her betrayal kept me from going down that road.. So now I just drove through random streets; running stop signs when no one else was at the intersection while trying not to speed over 50. It was hard; the blood pumping in my veins boiling with anger towards myself, that punk Matt, and then what was left of my anger towards Courtney.

"How?" I asked myself again, still unable to really wrap my mind around the fact that my wife had cheated on me with some high school kid. The part of me that wasn't concentrated on driving down the road and not into some tree was thinking of all the things I wanted to ask Courtney; all the answers I needed so that my mind and heart could be put at some ease. But right now, I couldn't face her; just the thought making my stomach do nervous backflips as another stop sign flashed past my window as I just kept driving.

I needed to get my mind off of everything that had happened just last night; that much was known for sure. Looking at what street I was on, I quickly made the correct turns; heading to work. There, I would be able to bury myself with business that didn't involve family.

There, hopefully I would be able to forget.

I drove for two more hours, letting my mind just spin around and wander on various thoughts before I got tired and had to pull over at some cheap motel; all the letters on the sign not even lighting up. It was no use though; only getting about another three hours of sleep before I woke up again and started to head out.

The next few days were spent working at the vacant lot I now owned; doing everything I could so I could open up sooner. I painted, bought the necessary furniture, talked to business people; and the list goes on. I tried everything I could to get my mind off her, but nothing worked. I couldn't sleep, I seldom ate and my mind never rested from the thought that she betrayed me.

It was on the fifth day since I had gotten here when I heard my phone vibrate and proceed to ring in my pocket. I was lifting one of the heavy shelves up at the moment so I couldn't answer it, but once the shelf was in place I took out my phone and glanced at the name that showed up.

Courtney.

What the hell did she want? Anger coursed through my veins before curiosity took over and I calmed down. What did she want? Maybe she wanted me home, my rational, calm side told me before I scoffed and shook my head. If she really wanted me home she would've called me long before today. I didn't bother to listen to her message on my voicemail. I didn't care what she had to say. It probably wasn't very pleasant anyways.

I needed some air, I decided, in order to clear my mind. Going outside, I sat down at a nearby bench, bringing with me my sketchpad. After sitting out for awhile and not being able to concentrate on what I was sketching, I started to finally get into a sketch; the feeling of someone watching me bring me from my work.

"Duncan?" The voice was high pitched and overly cheery; ringing a bell, but leaving me unsure of from where. I looked up from my sketch pad to see long tan legs, a fake rack, and long blonde hair. Seeing that alone triggered memories from my past, possibly an ex, but I couldn't place a face or name with the body.

"Uh, am I supposed to know you?" I asked, realizing how much of an ass I sounded like but at the moment not finding any reason to care. For all I knew, this girl was some one night stand that wanted some more; a whore.

"It's Claire! We dated for like three months back in high school." I stared blankly at her. "I lost my virginity to you winter prom, sophomore year," she said with a hand on her hip and then everything clicked.

"Claire?" My eyebrows were furrowed together as I studied the woman before me; noticing all the changes that she'd made over the years I hadn't seen her and had been with Courtney.

There are certainly some things I've missed out on while being married, I thought, scanning over Claire's body once more while she just smiled down at me. Damn she has a really nice rack.

"You've uh, changed," I said lamely, almost rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly but kept my hand down; trying to break the habit.

"Only on the outside. I'm still the same fun loving girl I was then," she assured me and I just nodded.

"Wow, how long has it been. Dam- uh dang, you look great." The words came out all jumbled together, finding it hard to match words with my thoughts so that she could understand what I was trying to tell her.

"Haha well thank you Duncan. I see that you've all but stayed the same; except for your hair, oh and you have more muscles though, something I didn't really think was possible since you're still so skinny." The tone of her voice told me that she was checking me out; thinking back to the time we spent together and what fun we had had. I, of course, was doing the same; staring at her curves and loving the figure she had grown into.

"Skinny or not, I'll still beat anyone in a fight," I said hotly, puffing out my chest slightly which made the girl before me laugh. Waiting for the sound to stop, I stood up; noticing that I was only a couple inches taller than Claire but then again she was wearing at least two inch heels.

"Do you want to go get lunch? You know, to catch up?" I offered and a smile spread across Claire's face.

"I would love to Sir; lead the way." Linking my arm through hers and tucking my notebook full of sketches under my other arm, I began walking Claire towards one of my favorite small burger joints just a couple of blocks down from the park.

While we sat and ate, our conversation was that of a light one; discussing work and our general health in the past few years. It sounds a little boring, sure, but when hearing of the modeling Claire had been doing I was anything but unfocused; hanging onto her every word as she went into detail about the underwear shoots.

What I wouldn't give to see her in just some underwear, I thought with a smirk, my lips shaping into a smile when I of all the times I had seen Princess in only her underwear and the blush that could cover all the way to her chest and make her freckles stand out. Ah, yes, those were good days.

"So what about you Duncan, seeing anyone?" Claire's question broke me from my thought and I looked down at the gold ring on my left hand. It'd be easy to lie to her, but a feeling in my gut kept me from doing this.

"Actually yeah. I'm married, to Courtney," I said, holding up my left hand as proof. A gasp passed through Claire's glossy lips, what I think to be a bit of sorrow flash through her eyes.

"Wow, you settled down... and so soon. Well it's great news! I wish the two of you the best of luck," she said cheerfully, flashing her dazzling white, straight smile at me.

"We're actually going through a pretty rough fight right now. She uh... cheated on me," I admitted shamefully, balling my right hand under the table while my jaw clenched at the thought of Courtney with Matt.

"Really? Woah.... I just never took Courtney for the cheating type," Claire muttered; staring down at her plate in disbelief.

"Yeah, well people change," I spat out, glaring down at my own plate in anger. Obviously sensing the tension and discomfort the topic caused me, Claire quickly smiled and started up something else.

"So what was it you were doing when I spotted you?" Looking down at my sketch pad which I had left leaning up against my chair leg, I smiled. If there was one thing that made me happy, it was my work; being able to do my own thing and live my own life.

"Working on a new design for my clothing line. You owe me a design since you interrupted me and now I can't remember what I was working on," I joked, honestly not remembering where I had been planning to go with the pattern I had started. When I start to sketch I get so into something that I don't notice the world around me; becoming void of all thoughts and letting my hands do all the work.

"Really? A clothing line? Do you have a shop nearby?" The way her eyes lit up left me to do nothing but smile.

"Yeah, just a few blocks away. We'd have to walk since I walked to the park and my car is still at the store; sorry," I apologized lamely, pulling out my wallet to pay for the meal.

"Oh it's not a problem! I love clothes shopping," Claire giggled, pulling me by my hand out of the store while talking away about the shopping she had done in Paris a couple summers ago. Leaving my hand in hers, I led her down the street and towards my store; smiling the whole way.

oo-oo

"Yeah, the store needs some work; I've realized that much. But it had some great potential," I said proudly, holding the door open wide for Claire to walk inside. Her heels clicked against the tiled floor before the sound was muffled when it changed to the coarse carpeting that covered the floors of most stores. Reaching past her, I flipped on the lights and began walking over to my cluttered desk; lamely attempting to clear some of the mess.

"This is your store Duncan?" Claire asked, drawing my attention back to her as she walked around and surveyed the surroundings.

"What do you think?" Turning to me with a smile on her face, I knew that she was happy with she saw.

"Oh it's just adorable!" she exclaimed and I cringed.

"Adorable?" Noting the tone of my voice, Claire turned and walked towards me; assuring me that that wasn't what she had meant.

"Oh come on Duncie-poo, you know it's a bad ass place just like you," she laughed, circling an arm around my waist; the action making my body go stiff due to it being someone besides Princess touching me in such a familiar way.

"Oh right, I forgot. Look I'm sorry Duncan, I didn't mean anything like that," Claire said innocently and I just nodded, telling her that I understood. From there, I went on to show her where I drew everything and well just about all there was to show in my considerably small store.

"What's behind this door? A secret torture room?" Claire joked, turning the door handle and opening the door. It wasn't anything like what she hoped; simply a couch with a pillow and blanket on it and a desk with a lamp.

"This is where I've been staying the past few days while Courtney is at home with the kids," I explained, feeling worry press down on my shoulders upon thinking of Courtney and her having to be at home alone with the kids. What if something happened to them? What if someone tried to break in and they got hurt? Why was I thinking of this now with Claire than before?

"Kids? Duncan you never told me you had kids," Claire said, mocking hurt and thankfully pulling me from my thoughts.

"Yeah twins; a boy and a girl." A smile spread across her features.

"Daddy's little girl?" she teased and I couldn't help but smile fondly, thinking back to all the times I'd spent with Alex where she was exactly that; my little girl.

"Yeah, something like that," I said, staring off into space while wrapped up in my thoughts.

"You miss them, don't you." Her voice reminded me that I wasn't alone in the back-room like I had been for the past couple of days; my heart aching from her words.

"More than you'll ever understand," I mumbled, sitting down on the couch and rubbing a hand down my face.

"Then why aren't you back at home with them and Courtney?" Claire too sat down on the couch, looking at me with curious eyes.

"I can't go home, not right now at least. I can't bring myself to face Courtney after everything she did," I tried to explain hopelessly, stiffening at the feeling of her hand on my knee.

"If she cheated, it's only fair to get even." Claire's words sent off warning in my head, turning to ask just what the hell she was talking about before her lips were upon mine. Of course my jerk reaction was to pull away, the taste of watermelon unfamiliar to my senses and so unlike Princess.

"What the f**k do you think you're doing Claire?" I hissed, wiping the back of my hand across my mouth and staring at the woman before me.

"What I wanted to do the second I saw you sitting on that bench in the park and realized it was you. Sadly enough for me, to this day you are still the best sex I've had Duncan; I crave your touch," she admitted to me and while it was a boost to my ego and certainly pleasing to hear, I couldn't do anything like that; I couldn't do anything like that to my family.

"No Claire, I'm married now, remember?" For emphasis, I held up my ring and wiggled the finger.

"What she doesn't know can't hurt her. Besides, it's not like she was going to tell you unless you confronted her anyway. This can be our little secret; our little pleasurable one time thing. I'll help you and you'll help me; we both win," she whispered to me, crawling into my lap as her lips brushed against the lobe of my ear. I couldn't help but shudder at the feeling; realizing then how long it had been since I'd been to bed with Princess; let alone anyone for that matter. I needed release, that much a fact that grew more and more noticeable as Claire's lips kissed down my neck and I grew harder from her touch, but could I really do such a thing to Courtney? To my kids?

"Don't think of them," Claire told me, as if reading my mind. "Just think of now and what's going on. Think of how good this is going to feel." It certainly wasn't hard to think of that, her hips rocking against mine slowly and causing some delicious friction that made me groan despite what my brain was telling me. Taking in the look of Claire's lust-glazed expression and I was gone; grabbing her roughly by the hips and using them to pull her towards me in one swift movement while my lips came crashing down on hers hungrily.

Claire's fingers slid down the fabric of my shirt and then underneath the layer of clothing; her cold fingers against my heated skin making goosebumps rise as I kissed down her neck and ground against her hips. There was nothing on my mind except what she felt like beneath me, the soft mews coming from the back of her throat because of my touch and how good I knew it would feel to be buried between her legs.

Never before had watermelon tasted so good.

But the more I kissed Claire; the more her shirt slid up, the sweetness of watermelon became bitter and left a foul taste in my mouth. The fire that had alit on my skin was put out; turning icy when she touched me but not at all in the good way. Any arousal that I had felt before was gone, replaced by disgust that flooded through my system.

"Mmm Duncan," Claire moaned, arching her back into my hands which had begun moving on autopilot; kneading against her breasts which were indeed fake. Pulling back my hands as if burned, I all but jumped off the couch and started pacing; trying to get my thoughts straight. When I looked back over at the couch, Claire was sitting up and looking at me; pissed.

"What the hell is your problem?" she snapped, glaring daggers at me as she stood up.

"I can't do it; I can't cheat on my family," I admitted, running a hand through my shaggy hair.

"Wow Duncan, never knew you were so ball-less." Anger coursed through my veins upon hearing those words; spinning on my heels to face the whoring woman.

"Get out, you have no idea what the hell you're talking about," I spat, pointing an accusing finger in her direction. Holding her hands up in surrender, Claire straightened her clothes.

"Fine, but you're missing out Duncan," she tried to tell me, but I wasn't hearing any of it. Already pushing her out of the store as I locked up and ran to my car.

I needed to get to Courtney and make everything better. I needed to get home.

I drove in my car, making sure to go at a reasonable speed, yet still fast. I couldn't have a speeding ticket from some anal cop slowing me down. Not now.

I smacked a palm into my face; how could I have been so stupid as to trust Claire? Ugh, just the thought of me touching her filthy, fake body made me want to stop and hurl. I was still mad at Princess, but I loved her, I always have and always will. Why hadn't I realized this sooner, when she was depending on me to come home? I must have worried them sick.

I sped through intersections and non crowded highways. I needed to get home as soon as possible; I knew my plan, as soon as I walked through that door I was gonna plant a nice, big one on Courtney, tell her I love her and then drill her with questions. I didn't care if she had seen that other douche while I was gone _I_ missed her and I craved _her_ touch. Cheating was wrong and it felt wrong and I would never, ever do it again.

I drove for another two hours, through mostly empty highways and roads. Maybe fate was giving me a freebie and was letting me have a chance to fix things before something really bad happened. I was so occupied with my plans, and happy day dreams of seeing my family again I didn't notice one car zig zagging through the roads, speeding past the limit.

A drunk driver.

Next thing I knew, I was being hurled into the front. Glass breaking as my head smashed into the windshield. Sharp pains slashed through me as my body was hurled into an uncomfortable position and I felt numb, except for my head which was searing.

Damn it. Damn you fate. I had my one chance, and some drunk driver ruined it.

I cursed out everything in my head, screaming the loudest obscenities I'd ever felt myself say, or think for that matter. Thinking about my anger towards the driver, however, became more and more difficult; instead focusing on just staying awake and breathing. The temptation of just closing my eyes and catching up on all the sleep I had missed these past few days was strong and when finally all the strength was drained from my body, the sound of sirens just barely reaching my ears; the outside world sounding clogged up like I was underwater. A warm liquid ran down my temple, the feeling of it sliding over my skin making me want to wipe away the feeling, but I found that I couldn't breath. I couldn't do anything.

Courtney's face popped up, and then everything went black.

o-o-o-o-o-o

I lay on my bed staring into thin air. My right arm was throbbing and was probably bleeding but I didn't care. Lately my arms were full of small cuts and bruises from numerous incidents. No, I wasn't cutting myself or hurting myself on purpose, it was just little coincidences. Like numerous papercuts on my fingers from reading letters Duncan had written me earlier in the day and from photo albums. Bumps and scratches from when I fell off the exceedingly large and empty bed at night.

The fact was, I didn't really care anymore. It was obvious he wasn't coming back, having been almost a week with no contact, no news...nothing. Gwen and Bridgette had been a great help; over here whenever they could be and always offering their support and helping me with the kids. I was extremely grateful, they understood, and without them this past week would have been a lot harder.

But it was days like today that were the hardest. Neither of them could make it and I understood; they had lives too. But every time I saw the faces of my two kids, it took all my effort not to start crying. They looked so much like him...but I couldn't cry in front of them; I had to be strong. I looked at the clock in my room, it was almost six. I sniffled, wiped my eyes and got up; heading to the twin's room and taking both of them and putting them in their highchairs.

They were growing, I could tell. They weren't the needy two year olds anymore. They were growing, learning three year olds...that needed their mother. My eyes watered at my realization of the last bit but I furiously held it in. Great, I had just found yet another reason to hate myself.

I didn't have much energy to make a full out dinner, so I settled on formula milk. Neither twin's seemed to have a problem with that recently so I figured it would be okay. While I prepared their bottles I looked at my kids. Instead of fussing like I remembered when they were hungry, they were talking with each other in their own made up baby language. I couldn't help but giggle. What else had I missed while I was on my teenager rampage?

"Mommy, when is daddy coming home?" The question cut through the silence like a knife; a very, very sharp knife. I froze and my eyes widened. How was I supposed to answer Devon's question when I didn't even know, and I wasn't sure that he was coming back? Noticing my sad and worried expression, he started shaking and his eyes watered; threatening tears. Trying my best to console Devon, I lifted him out of the highchair and rocked him back and forth; stroking his hair and whispering small reassurances to him.

"I'm sure that Daddy will come back soon, he probably misses you all very much." This was all a flat out lie.. I didn't think that Duncan would come back at all, let alone soon, and it would take a lot more than just missing the kids to bring him home to face me.

"What about you mommy? Does daddy miss you?" I swallowed hard from that last one. I knew he didn't miss me, so damn much; and it hurt so badly to think about. But it hurt even more that I missed him, and I messed _everything_ up. I didn't notice the tears running down my face until Devon pointed them out. I guess I had just gotten used to the feeling.

"What's wrong Mommy? Do you have a boo boo?" The sweet little voice that asked this question made me want to stop and look at him. He looked so much like Duncan, it really hurt to look at him. I quickly wiped away my tears and stroked my son's jet black hair.

"No, Mommy just misses Daddy very much and wishes he would come home." One thing that wasn't a lie. I pushed my hair back and sighed; why was it so easy for me to see this now than before, when I said all those nasty things him? I put Devon back in his highchair and finished preparing their bottles. Once I finished feeding them, I put them in their playpen, vowing to play with them soon. I just had to take care of something first.

I went into my room and locked the door, cringing at the sights around me. Our room was a mess; all the mirrors shattered and glass everywhere, the bed wasn't made, Duncan's possessions and our pictures everywhere. But on the side was my phone, the phone that I had been deliberately ignoring for the past few days. Not that he ever called, because if he did I would have answered in a flash. but now I needed him to come home, because I missed him and needed him more than I could stand.

I picked up the phone and dialed anxiously waiting, wondering if he was going to pick up. It rang for awhile before it went to his voicemail; of course he wouldn't pick up to me, He probably just put away his phone after just looking at the caller ID, but I couldn't chicken out. If I wanted him to come home, I had to let him know myself.

"D-Duncan, I know you probably don't want to hear from me right now..but I want you to come home. The kids miss you and they need you. But what I really want to say is that I need you, I want you home. I miss you and I love you and everything that I did was wrong and you were right and please come back! I'm nothing without you, please, please come home." I wiped away lingering tears from my eyes, I was pathetic, I really was. But I wanted him home, so so bad. I heard a knock on the door and I opened it, it was Bridgette and I smiled.

"You okay Court? How's the arms?" She glanced down at my cut up arms and sighed. "Why won't you keep the bandages on? God, it's like you want to keep hurting yourself or something." I looked down while she chastised me; she would never understand why I hurt myself. No one ever would. And the cuts would never stop until I had Duncan back.

I rubbed my arms self consciously and murmured an apology while the phone started ringing. I excused myself, hoping to god with all my heart that it was Duncan answering me back and telling me he would be coming home.

"Hello? Duncan is that you?"

"Ma'am, are you Mr. Duncan Evans wife?" My heart froze, what was going on? Where is Duncan? Is he alright? I felt my breathing come in short and shallow gasps as I hastily realized I needed to give this person an answer.

"Yes, this is. What's going on? Where is my husband?"

"Ma'am I'm sorry to tell you this, but your husband was in a car accident this evening. He was hit by a drunk driver and his head broke through his windshield. He was rushed into the emergency room immediately. They're operating on his head as we speak."

My breath came in shorter and shallower little gasps s tears freely ran down my cheeks. I had to clamp my hand over my mouth to keep from screaming. I was aware that Bridgette came in, asking me what was wrong. I was aware that the person on the other line was asking if I was there. But I wasn't aware of my eyes rolling backwards and my legs swaying from side to side.

I didn't know whether it was the lack of proper food, my tiredness, the shock of the situation or all three combined. I fell back and blacked out, knowing that everything was all my fault.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Two weeks. That's how long Duncan has been in a coma, and he hasn't woken up yet. I was by his side as soon as I could be, and I rarely left. Gwen came when she could to visit, and bring me proper food before I would starve myself for another few days with nothing but lots of water in my system. I wasn't hungry, how could I be when my husband was in an accident, scarred his head, in a coma and that I knew it was all my fault?

I hadn't left his side for days, afraid that he would wake up and I wasn't there to have the tiniest bit of hope that he was okay. I left once, to shower and to change into a fresh pair of clothes. If I was a wreck before, I was a total, miserable, complete wreck now. I hadn't fallen asleep for more than an hour in god knows how long, nor had a complete meal in days.

It didn't help that I was worried about my twins half the time. I had unwillingly yet half willingly handed them to Bridgette and Geoff, so that they could take care of them while I was here, waiting. They brought the twins to visit, but never in Duncan's room. I didn't need them to see what had happened to him.

Duncan, was so restless, even in a coma. It scared me, leaving me to wonder if he was going to wake up soon or not. Every time I looked at him it was almost impossible not to cry and it didn't help that half his hair was gone either. When they operated on his head, the hair on the half of the head with the gash had to go. It wasn't that it was all _gone_, it was just cut unevenly so it was short on one half but strange. It was awkward looking at him now, and I knew that it was all my fault too.

The scar was also very scary to me too. It was a long red gash that covered half his head. It was currently bandaged up so that it would heal faster and to avoid major scaring. Another thing that was my fault. Now Duncan would have a scar on half his head for the rest of his life.

I didn't know if I could face him when he woke up. He wouldn't even want to be next to me for that matter. It didn't matter to me, I just wanted to make sure that he woke up and was alright, and then if he wanted me to leave, I would. But I loved him, so much that it hurt.

And the cuts kept coming too, so many that I didn't even know how I had gotten half of them. I had taken to wearing baggy jackets so the doctors and the nurses would stop giving me strange looks and ask me if I was a cutter and needed therapy. I could now understand why Duncan hated hospitals. I lost weight, because of not eating. Now most of my clothes, no matter what size, were baggy. Not that I cared if I looked nice anymore. In fact I would give all of that up if it meant Duncan coming back well and healthy to me.

I closed my eyes tightly and put my head on my scrunched up knees, making sure that tears wouldn't come through.

"I know that it's all my fault, but please, please let Duncan come back to me. Because I love him, and I can't live without him, and I know that everything I did up till now was wrong, but I need him. And I can't let him go, not yet, and not at all. I love him." I chanted this over and over and over again.

Why? Why did things have to end up this way?

Me. It's all because of stupid, unforgivable me.

"He's mine, you can't have him damn it. Give him back." Then I sobbed.


	16. Finally, He's Awake

**Can I even begin t say how sorry I am? I'm literally about to throw myself over a cliff into the sharks because I feel so bad about lying to you guys :( I didn't know it would take this long and I'm sorry! Me and my beta had some time issues and she just got this back to me last night. I worked really, really, really hard on this in hopes that you guys will love the make up scene. I literally worked at school, at home, everywhere! So again I'm really sorry and hope you enjoy the chapter and forgive me :) Does it help that it's my birthday? Hahahah, I love u all and I think you all deserve some credit for sticking with me, but that'll be soon I promise!**

**An Issue I'd like to address, somebody stole and plagiarized Courtney's Pregnant directly from the story. Like literally just copied and pasted it, along with the wedding chapter in this story. This has been really really bugging me, and thank you very very much to NightxOwl, ep1998 , sk8inpiro21, Mermaidstarfish, xXx-3m0 IzZy-xXx, and DunCourt4ever for reviewing on the story and trying to get it removed. And it hasn't been removed yet. If you guys have heard of this story, please, im begging, please review and report it to try and get it taken down! It'll really mean a lot to me because I know I have some very dedicated readers :) If you haven't heard of this story, it's called somethin special. And please review and help me get it taken down! Whoever does review will get credit here!**

**Ok last thing before you guys start reading and enjoying hee hee. The next chapter is in the works and will be out soon, probably not this weekend, but much sooner than this I promise! Ok time to get reading! I hope you guys like it cause it's the longets chapter I've ever written!! WOO HOO!!!! enjoy!!!!**

**o 0 O 0 o**

I blinked my eyes open slowly, wincing at the sharp pains in my head. My whole body was sore, that much I could tell through the fog of my mind; my body stiff as it usually when sore. I blinked again and my vision became clearer. Where was I?

I was laying on some cheap, white, uncomfortable bed; my temples starting to ache as I tried to process everything around me and match the puzzle pieces. My palms started sweating as I shrank back into the mattress, hoping to God I wasn't where I thought I was. A glance down at my arm made me wince before turning my eyes away. There it was, the IV needle, in place and everything.

I hate hospitals, always have and always will. People there are always sticking needles where needles shouldn't be stuck. Always putting needles in everyone's business. Not that I've ever really experienced that...

Quickly, before my thoughts could convince myself otherwise, I turned my head away from the sight of my arm; fighting the temptation to pull the needle out and cause more damage. A small mumbling noise caused me to turn around and break myself from my thoughts; my body locking up as my thoughts stilled and I had to remind myself to breathe. She looked awful; there was no denying that much. With dark circles around her eyes and the noticeably large amount of weight she had lost. It made me sick with worry to see how thin she had become; wondering if she had even eaten while I was gone. If she wasn't eating, how were the kids? But I knew that she wouldn't let anything happen to them; despite it all she loves them and wouldn't do that.

The blonde highlights that I couldn't stand were still there but they hung lank and pale along with the rest of her once beautiful chestnut hair. Her eyes were closed and she was mumbling the same unintelligible phrase over and over again. I caught my name, and then a few tears but other than that, nada. Despite it all, I hated to see her cry, more than anything in the world; but I knew to make this whole thing fair, she had to feel the same way that I had felt this whole time.

"C-Courtney?" I stumbled out, amazed that I still had trouble saying her name. Of course I was still pretty angry with her, and I wanted answers; it just amazed me that I could still be so hurt. Damn it, am I going soft?

Her eyes startled open and I saw how red and puffy they were. How long has she been crying? She wiped her eyes and smiled weakly.

"Duncan? Y-you're awake?" How long was I out? And how could my head feel so heavy yet so light? I blame my headache. I scoffed and laughed bitterly at her before replying.

"Yeah I'm awake. My eyes are open and I'm talking and moving aren't I?" She winced from my harshness while I winced from my headache.

"Don't move much, it'll only make the pain worse." Gee helpful advice.

I glanced at her face and saw the pain she'd been put through since I'd left. And the fact that I cheated on her with Claire, and I didn't even have the balls to confess to her like she did to me, made everything even worse. Wait, why was I feeling bad? She cheated on me first; I had the right to do whatever the hell I wanted! But it didn't stop me from feeling bad, "Why are you even here?"

The question cut through the short silence like a dagger. Her face fell and she sunk into her chair; looking ashamed and worried. Something that surprisingly pleased me a bit. It gave me small pleasure to know that she felt bad and that she knew what she did was wrong. "I wanted to make sure you were okay. I mean... after the accident and everything..." she trailed off, leaving me confused. How could she have feelings for two guys at once? Didn't she know that, next to the kids, she was number one in my life? Didn't she know how much she meant to me. She probably didn't; I had never specifically told her.... and maybe that was my fault.

"I shouldn't matter to you anymore; you wanted some douche-bag high school prep. Well guess what _Princess_? You got him and lost me along the way. Congratulations." My tone was harsh, I knew that, but I felt like she needed to have the harsh treatment; like she needed to know that not everything was happy and perfect and that there was a meaner side to life especially when it came to cheating on one's husband.

"But you do matter to me, a lot. And I don't want high school prep; I want you." She did? Well... if she really wanted me back, she'd have to work for it. She'd have to show me that she really was sorry for what she did and she would never, _ever_ do it again. I knew that it would be hard seeing her upset, but karma kinda owed it to her. Seems I was going to have to milk my harsh attitude for a bit longer.

"It's too late for that now. Everything is back to normal: You hate me now and I hate you." Princess jumped a bit and gave off a small squeak before turning around, shutting her eyes tight and clamping her hand over her mouth for a few minutes. Now that really hurt but I had to keep on a straight face. I was a better actor than Princess knew.

"You...y-you hate me?" I watched as the tears trickled down her face. I saw that she felt awful; now why couldn't I _stop_?"

"After what you put me through, I think I do." I had to turn away. Her soft crying was too much; it would put me over the edge. More than anything, I wanted to take her into my arms, hold her tight and kiss her over and over again and reassure her that I loved her and everything would be alright.

But I couldn't.

The fire of anger that had started during our fight and had been put out was now relit and was blazing strong. And once it was started, it couldn't be stopped. I turned back to face Courtney, who had now ceased her heavy crying and was hastily wiping her eyes and constantly sniffling.

"If t-that's how y-you really feel D-duncan." She stuttered out and I nodded shakily. "I d-don't blame y-you," she hastily stuttered out. I looked at her face for any sign of untruthfulness, but she looked serious. Was she kidding me? She wasn't one bit angry at me? Where was all the anger from our fight the other night?

I sighed deeply and shook my head. "So what exactly happened to me anyways? I know I was in a car crash but..." I trailed off, resisting the temptation to take the damn needle out of my arm. It had really began to bug me especially because I was now clenching my fists to keep from breaking over the edge.

"Well, you hit your head and......they had to operate... and... and... Duncan this is really hard for me to say... I'd rather not," she whispered, looking down at her lap.

"Say it," I stated simply, already knowing that I had a giant gash on my head, but wanting to hear Courtney say it.

"Please don't make me Duncan. please..," she begged with tears lingering in her eyes. This time I didn't feel a thing and looked straight into her onyx eyes.

"Say it," I growled out harshly. She jumped again but other than that didn't seem that surprised.

"You crashed against the windshield on our car, and... and you got a long gash on your head and have been in a coma for the past two weeks and it's all my fault! happy?!" She burst out and I was left confused...again. A coma? There was no way she would have been here for two weeks.

"Hmm, very impressive Courtney. I wonder what you've been up to these past two weeks. Who knows what you were doing what I was unconscious. Ca-noodling with your precious Matt maybe?" I snapped, glaring at her with icy eyes; blood boiling from the thought of her with Matt for two weeks while I was just lying around in some hospital bed.

"Duncan, Matt means nothing to me. He never has. I know that this was all my fault but I was here, watching over you, making sure you were okay," she tried to tell me, but I found it hard to believe.

"Ha! I bet you'd rather out partying now! Grinding with your so called 'popular' friends," I spat, my gaze hardening.

"No, I really wouldn't; I swear! I'd rather be here, with you...." She was pleading with me to forgive her and to make everything better again. But not this time. She hadn't even apologized yet for anything she had said the other night… or I guess a night two weeks ago.

"Please, this isn't a soap opera Princess. I'm not gonna forgive you so easily this time."

"I know Duncan, I know. I'm a terrible person, and this is all my fault and you shouldn't forgive me and you have every right to hate me all you want." More tears glistened in her eyes with each word she spoke and I felt bad again. But she needed to know the truth if I was to forgive her.

"Courtney don't pull this act with me. The whole 'crying and pleading' thing isn't working. What you did was unforgivable, so save your BS explanations. They don't mean anything and if I do forgive you who knows when you'll act out next? Besides, you haven't apologized once." Her face gaped and I sighed. I was really getting harsh with her, and nothing was getting through. So why couldn't I be a bit less harsh?

"Duncan please believe me. You can hate me all you want but _please_ believe me. I will never, _ever_ cheat on you again because you mean the world to me, and I don't need anyone else." Again, no apology. No I love you. Nothing. She still didn't get it… but it felt good to hear I meant the world to her; because she has always been my world.

"Courtney I can't believe you. I do hate you; did you think that five days would change that?" Her lower lip trembled a bit, and it was getting harder and harder to not feel bad about my words; to not want to take it all back and forgive her and just have things return to how they used to be. I wanted us to be so happy again; like newly weds with adorable little kids that always had both of their parents around to love them.

"No b-but I just don't know what I can do I know I lied... and it was wrong; very, very wrong. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" She was so desperate; I could tell that she would die for me to forgive her. But I wasn't willing to just yet. Just a little longer.

"No."

The word came out so slick and harsh she cringed from the impact. She looked down and began to tremble. I had to change the subject now, if I wanted to avoid another crying rampage.

"How have you been putting up with the kids? Are they alright?" My worry for my twins was raised when I thought about them. Were they okay? Did Courtney take care of them well? Did they miss me? Despite how much I knew she loved our kids, based on the way she'd be acting recently I was left to worry.

"Fine... Just fine." But her eyes told me that things weren't fine back at home. It had probably been hard for her, just like it had been for me when I was all alone taking care of them.

"Isn't it hard when you're all by yourself?" She sniffled. Did she think that this was it, that I was leaving her for good? She nodded but I could tell that she wasn't telling me everything.

"How do you think I felt...?" It was hard when I was taking care of two toddlers all by myself. But I was used to it. It was probably dead hard for her because she wasn't used to it; instead used to going out and partying and not caring about anyone but herself.

"Awful...betrayed...overworked... angry...worried...hurt," she listed; those feelings obviously coming from the heart. And that was only the beginning of what I had and still felt.

"Exactly."

I closed my eyes and turned away from her. Pathetically, I could feel tears coming on and it left me feeling disgusted with myself. Why should I be crying? My toughness didn't help, it made it worse. Painstakingly slow, I could already feel the tears trickling down soundlessly as I listened to Courtney's ragged breathing.

"Duncan...," I heard her say and I turned back around to face her and opened my eyes. I didn't have to look at her reaction to know that my eyes were blood-shot and puffy. She looked about ready to collapse out of sadness.

"Duncan.....I can't even begin to say how sorry I am..." Now? Now she was telling me this? No, I wasn't taking this. Not now.

"Save it Courtney. If you were really sorry you would have apologized long before now."

"No, Duncan. I-I can't." I watched as her eyes got shiner as she curled into a ball on the small chair and buried her head between her knees before starting to sob. "I'm sorry Duncan. I'm so, so, so, so sorry. For everything." I felt awful now. I never meant for her to break down like this. What had my harshness reduced her to? The guilt only weighed down further on my chest (mainly targeting my heart) as I watched for a few minutes as she poured her heart out.

"Courtney, come on don't cry." That only made her cry harder, damn it.

"I'm so, _so_ sorry Duncan. I know I caused you nothing but trouble and everything is all my fault."

She kept crying, and I just sat and watched. I wished I could do more but I didn't know what. It broke my heart seeing her this upset.

"Just stop crying, baby; you know I hate that," I whined pathetically. She didn't look up but choked on her sobs a bit before answering.

"You already h-hate me," she sobbed. How could I tell her that it wasn't true, without revealing that I lied to her?

"I...I don't hate you," I stuttered out lamely. It was true, I didn't; in fact I loved her, more than she would be able to understand.

"But you said y-you did. Y-you're just lying to make me feel better." No, not now! Now I wasn't! How could she believe the lie so much easier than the truth?

"Courtney... God. This is just so hard…." She only cried harder.

How long and how hard could she cry? Did she take my words the wrong way? Oh god. "I know...you don't want to be near me." No no no no no! I wanted her to be more than close to me. I wanted to hold her tight and never let go! But my words had said differently and I realized that now. I had gone too far and now I had to get Courtney back before I let what I had said out of rage drag our relationship down further.

"I want things to be fixed." It was true; would she take my words the right way this time?

"I know..." Finally, she understood. "You want a divorce, I remember." No! God damn-it that was the last thing I wanted! My Princess didn't even bother to look at m y strained face; she kept her head buried in her knees while I looked at her painfully.

"I regret everything I said that night. Yes I was angry, and I still am, but I don't want a divorce. I don't hate you but we do need to work things out," I tried to tell her; not sure exactly what to tell her to make everything better.

"But...but...I'm so confused...you say you hate me then you don't... and... and...." She broke down sobbing again, and again I ached to put a hand on her back, and to take her into my arms, but I couldn't. I tried getting up to console her, but I only winced from the pain that it caused me. What was I supposed to do now? How the hell was I going to make her believe that I still love her?

**o 0 O 0 o**

He hates me. I knew it, I knew it all along. So why had I been hoping that it would have turned out different? I was so pathetic, sobbing like this. He probably wanted me to leave and I knew it; I was only making everything worse. Furiously, I scratched the parts of my arms that were unscathed; hard enough to make them bleed. I think I even scratched the parts that were scabbed over, causing them to bleed too.

I could tell because I could feel the sticky liquid dripping down my arms and running through the large sleeves of my jacket. What was happening to me? I was reduced to nothingness, less than nothing. I was that pathetic. A few years ago I would have never believed that a stupid man could make me this weak, especially a man like Duncan. And now what? See that; stupid damn love. I was that in love with him. I was ready to give up my damn life if it meant Duncan taking me back and for everything to go back to the way things were. My life wasn't worth anything.

"Damn it... Damn it...can't you see that I love you so much I'd be willing to die for you?" I whispered frantically but not loud enough for Duncan to hear.

"Courtney I'm willing to try and fix this, now please don't cry. I hate when you cry, more than anything in the world." How could he keep making up lies just to calm me down? I couldn't stop crying, or even look at him for that matter. He was hurt, it was all my fault, and nothing, nothing would ever make things go back to the way they were.

"I can't...you're hurt and it's my fault... and I still love you but you hate me...and you'll never love me like you once did..."

"Courtney... that's... that's so... how could you...?" I knew it. He was going to end things now, once and for all.

"I know... it's all true; what I just said.... I should just leave now while I still have the chance...." I got up without looking at him, rubbing my eyes in the process. I turned around when I felt a hand enclose around my arm. His touch made me freeze, goose bumps covering my arms as a delicious chill ran down my spine. There was no denying that how much I loved that man would be my downfall one day; willing to do anything he asked with just one touch or glance in my direction. Turning around while trying to steady my breathing, I saw that Duncan was grasping my arm, pleading with a hard blaze in his eyes for me not to go.

"No Courtney, that's so untrue I'd rather die than have it be true. I know I said some harsh things to you but most of them were all lies because I was angry. But that's not the point. I still love you, just as much as ever. A-and though it hurts that you cheated on me, it hurts more when I'm away from you and I could never, ever stop loving you or get over you." When he had finished speaking both of us had tears in our eyes. And Duncan rarely cries, only when he feels very strongly about something.

"R-really?" I choked out, about to burst into tears any minute but hoping all the while that he would give me the answer I wanted to hear.

"Yes, I mean it." I rushed over into his startled, yet open arms and hugged him, but quickly pulled away when I realized how stupid I was being.

"I'm sorry... I forgot that you're hurt…" I sniffled, looking down at all the bandages that covered his body before backing off a bit. Duncan shook his head at me and smiled.

"No Baby," Duncan bent over, scooped me up in his arms, and set me down on his lap, holding me tight all the while. "It doesn't hurt a bit." I squirmed a bit in his arms out of habit, and of worry that I was hurting him; and that's when it hit me. I was in Duncan's arms. He was holding me, and he loved me again. He forgave me. I clung to him like I've never clung before and sobbed into his shirt, harder than I'd ever sobbed before. I have him back. I have him back… and he loves me.

"I have you back.... and you're alive... and you love me... I have you back." I couldn't help but say this as Duncan held me tighter and whispered reassurances in my ear. But even in his arms my crying didn't cease. I wanted to stay like this forever and never, ever let go.

"Shh, Princess. Everything is going to be okay now. I'm here babe, you're okay." Duncan said this as he stroked my hair and kissed my head. I sighed, how I had missed his gentle touches. I choked off my sobs, and Duncan wiped my face and eyes with his fingers.

"I thought I'd lost you Duncan, you scared me." Duncan laughed while holding me even tighter. If it were under any other circumstances, I would have been struggling to breathe and ask him to let go of me. But now, not a chance.

"Please, you can't get rid of me that easily Courtney." Couldn't he have called me by any other name? He called me Princess once and it made me very happy, but other than that he called me by Courtney this whole time he was fighting with me; I ached to hear his nicknames for me, anything besides my guilt-ridden name. I wiped my eyes again and sniffled a bit.

"Duncan, only you could have just woken up form being in a car accident, with a long gash on your head, and still crack jokes like nothing's happened." He laughed again while kissing my hair again.

"And that's one of the hopefully many reasons why you love me." I giggled a bit while Duncan took my hands in his and rubbed them; surprisingly his hands were warmer than mine, and were warming mine up.

"Courtney, you know your hands are freezing. Are you coming down with something?" I was quite cold, even in sweatpants and a hoodie. I figured it must be malnutrition or bad circulation or something.

"Most likely not, and even if I was, I'm _not_ moving from this spot." He kissed my head yet again, not that it mattered to me how many times he did, and rocked me a bit.

"Of course you aren't, but even if you tried I wouldn't let you." I leaned my head back to look at his gorgeous face and he smiled sweetly at me. I reached up to stroke his face, and before I could stop it, my baggy sleeve fell down; revealing all of my many cuts, scratches and bruises to Duncan. I watched his eyes bug out of his head as he took in my stained hoodie sleeves, to the blood trickling down my arms, to the new cuts just formed a mere twenty minutes ago.

"Courtney...what the hell happened to your arm?" I said nothing but furiously pulled the sleeve back down and held the arms self-consciously. Duncan held both my arms tenderly but pulled both sleeves back up, gasping when he took on the full effect.

"Courtney, I want you to tell me how your arms got this badly hurt right now. You...you didn't become a cutter or something...did you?"

"No of course not!"

"So would you please tell me how you got so many cuts; and why some of them are still bleeding?" I sighed and he stroked my hurting arms, soothing me with his gentle touches.

"I...I um...I sorta... smashed all the mirrors in our room and the bathroom." I saw Duncan raise his eyebrows at me with a shocked expression on his face.

"Come again? Why the hell would you do that?" I looked down and played with my fingers for a bit before answering.

"I was so frustrated with myself...I couldn't look at myself anymore...I tried changing how I looked but my hair was the biggest issue with all my stupid blonde highlights and I couldn't cut it all off... so I just broke all the mirrors..," I said meekly while looking down all the while. It was the truth, and it made me feel really good to tell it for once. Duncan sighed and ran a hand down his face and stayed quiet for a few moments before answering.

"It's alright, I understand. They're just mirrors and we can replace them. But I'm calling the nurse so you can get your arms bandaged up correctly." I nodded a bit, it was the least I could agree to. I was glad that I didn't have to explain the whole reason for why my arms were cut up and still bleeding; in fact I didn't really know why. Thankfully, Duncan let it drop while pushing the button to call the nurse.

I got out of his lap, and pushed my hair out of my eyes. I didn't want the nurse to come in and see us all cuddly and together. This is a hospital, not a lounge.

When the nurse came in, Duncan all but took the bandages and medication out of her hands and shoved her back out that door. It was embarrassing, but I was happy not to have some nosy nurse sticking her nose in our business. Duncan made me sit down in his lap, again, as he applied the medication to my arms. It stung a little, but it didn't matter to me; as long as I had Duncan back and he loved me again. Besides, I had given myself the cuts in the first place so it was my fault. When he was finished, Duncan kissed my bandaged arms all over; claiming that it would make them heal faster.

"I look awful don't I?" I saw Duncan sigh while nodding his head.

"But I'm sure all you need is some good food, a few long hours of sleep, a normal shower and lots of love to get you looking healthy and beautiful again. Oh, and get rid of those damn blonde highlights; they're driving me crazy." I giggled, I couldn't stand them either.

"Already working on it babe; all I gotta do is wash them out." He nodded and mussed up my hair a bit while I giggled.

"Courtney, to me, you're always beautiful on the outside no matter what. Just don't ever change on the inside again." His words made me melt on the inside, and I snuggled into his chest as he wrapped his arms around me again.

"Duncan I promise I'll never, ever go down that road again."

"That sounds like a smart idea."

"I'm not that smart," I argued. How could I be when I had made all these terrible decisions?

"Of course you are Princess; you were a CIT remember?" When I heard that word, it reminded me of school somehow. I needed to tell Duncan, but how? How could I tell him that I wanted to quit?

"I..um...sorta..."

"What is it Princess?" His concern made me wait, he had too much news on his plate already. Surely I could wait until he was up and walking to tell him, right?

"I'll wait till you're up and out of the hospital to tell you." He nodded and caressed my face, which sent shivers down my spine and flamed up my face. He laughed at my blush and kissed my forehead.

"Are there any other surprises I should know about?"

"Well...I really need to fix our room, it's a mess." He laughed and shook his head at me.

"Anything else?"

"I was thinking of bringing the kids to see you soon. Unless you'd rather wait to see them when we go back home."

"How long would that be?"

"About a week, maybe less."

"Nope, I need to see my kids tomorrow at the latest. I've missed them." They missed him too, but no one missed him more that I did.

"Mmkay...," I mumbled before leaning up a bit and pressing my lips against his own. He responded immediately, flipping me over so I was on top of him and could kiss him with more passion. I began running my hands through his hair, but stopped when my hands ran through patches of uneven hair. I pulled back and sighed and Duncan raised his eyebrows at me.

"What? Did I lose my kissing expertise in the past few weeks?"

"No, it's not you. Well it is you...well your hair. I guess I'm just not used to your new hair yet."

"What are you talking about Princess? I didn't change my hair." Duncan looked at me questioningly and I realized that I hadn't told him about his hair yet. He was gonna freak.

"Well..um...why don't you feel for yourself?" I watched as he reached up and brushed his hair, his eyes bugging out when he felt the half that was clumsily cut and uneven.

"How did this happen?"

"Well, due to the long gash on your head...they had to operate. And your hair got in the way..." I started, uncomfortable with the topic of the conversation.

"So they cut my hair?"

"Half," I stated, becoming more uncomfortable by the minute.

"Half? They cut half my hair off? Well that's just great." He was pissed, but not angry pissed, just annoyed pissed.

"Hello buzz-cut...again," I murmured quietly. I didn't really have a problem with it anymore. But I missed the mohawk, I hadn't seen it in awhile. He groaned and I rubbed his back reassuringly.

"If you want...I can fix it for you when we get back home." Not the number one thing I'd like to do on my list, but it was the least I could do.

"Sure. You know, I really did miss you a lot." He leaned down and kissed me again. I pulled back and glared at him for a minute.

"But don't you ever leave again," I said menacingly, jabbing him in the chest with my finger with each of the last three words. He looked at me just as serious and smirked.

"Don't you ever lie to me again. Deal?" Yes, Of course!

"Mega deal," I happily replied while pressing my lips to his once more.

**o 0 O 0 o**

"Hey Duncan," Courtney said while striding happily into my room. In just two days, you could already see major changes in her appearance. Her complexion had almost returned to its normal color, and she was glowing radiantly. Her hair was draped all around her, shiny and healthy, blonde highlights disappearing into her chestnut hair. She was gaining some weight back, but she looked good, sexy.

Today she was wearing a bright orange sundress with a headband to match, which made her skin glow along with her improved personality. She looked so beautiful and goddess-like I just sat there with my mouth hanging open while she giggled and kissed my cheek.

"Look who's here to see you," she continued saying while I raised one of my eyebrows at her. She smiled, and two seconds later a bright smile filled my face when two angelic, curious faces peered across the doorway.

"Daddy!"

"Daddy you're okay!"

I couldn't help but chuckle as I leaned over and ruffled both the twin's heads. I couldn't lift them up myself so Courtney strode over and plucked them into her arms.

"Think you can handle them both?" I nodded eagerly as she handed them both to me. Once they were safely in my arms, I held them both tight and gave them many kisses to make up for the ones they lacked while I was gone. I looked up at Courtney in surprise, she was smiling warmly while taking a seat next to the bed.

"How did you convince them? The hospital said I couldn't see them till I got out." I watched her giggle and smile again, it melted my heart just to see her this happy and laughing again.

"Well, they saw how well you were doing and with just a little persuasion, they allowed." I smiled again, it felt good to have my whole family with me again. I looked down at my smiling twins who both looked truly happy to see me.

"Hey, did you two get taller? Didn't anyone tell you you're not allowed to grow without me?" I joked with my kids, pulling them close once more for another kiss on their heads. Their response was their cute laughter, and another smile to come on my face.

"But Daddy here now, and Daddy never leave 'gain!" Alex said, with a small smile on her face. I couldn't help but correct her mispronunciation, it was a habit.

"Alex, its again not 'gain. And I'm not leaving again, I need to stay with my little princess." I watched as her eyes lightened and I couldn't help but glance at Courtney; the smile was still on her face but her eyes spoke otherwise. Was she upset that I had used her pet name on Alex? While most of me wanted to blame her upset look on the use of her pet-name, I knew it wasn't that; the deep swirling emotions that she tried to hide in her eyes telling me so. No, there was still something bothering Courtney and the moment I had a chance to be alone with her I would find out.

"Daddy, you have a boo-boo?" Devon's question broke me from my thoughts and I looked down to see him curiously studying my bandages. I could feel the worry radiate from both of the twins.

"Yeah buddy, but Daddy's fine now." His face relaxed a bit and I rubbed his head out of instinct which made him giggle.

"So what have you guys been up to," I questioned, just wanting to hear their little chirps and squeals which made my day. How I had missed their little chitters and chatter. They had the cutest little voice when they were pleased; especially Alex who sounded like a little angel doll.

"We were wif Antie Jeff!" Devon exclaimed, pleased at the turn outs of the past few weeks. I couldn't say the same for Courtney and I though, but it was all water under the bridge now...I hoped.

"Home was not fun!" Alex piped up and I raised my eyebrows at her, then glanced at Courtney who paled a bit and shrank in her seat. "Mommy was sad and she no play with us like mommy used to," she continued and I couldn't help but glance at Courtney again who had her eyes wide but looked anywhere but me. I thought that she took better care of our kids like that; I knew that she was a wreck while I was gone...but neglecting the twins? That's a new all time low, even for her.

"And why was mommy sad?" I didn't have to look at Courtney to know that she was sinking in her sink and about to go over the edge with her emotions; I knew her well enough.

"I think mommy missed you a lot," Devon said softly before I noticed that Courtney stepped put of the room quietly. I guess it was a step up from throwing another crying rampage, didn't stop me from worrying and feeling bad though.

"Well, mommy and me had a long talk about that because I missed her very much too."

"So mommy and daddy not fighting anymore?" Alex spoke up curiously yet hesitantly. I remembered that she was there the other night when Courtney and I had our big fight.

"No, definitely not. Mommy and daddy love each other very much and promised not to fight again." At least I hoped that was the truth. We hadn't really touched on the fighting subject in the past few days.

Another few minutes were spent chattering and with many hugs, kisses and 'I love you's' until Courtney came back in blotting her eyes and with a small smile on her face. I raised my eyebrows at her and decided to focus on the current situation instead of the past one.

"I've got good news." She said semi happily while I kept my questioning look on.

"The hospital says that if you're feeling up to it, you can come home today," she announced and I felt my face light up again. Yes! No more damn IV needle in my arm! I could go home and sleep in my own freaking bet _with_ my wife! We could have apology sex and be as loud as we want and say anything we want without some stupid nurses and doctors butting in on everything!

"Did you hear that Alex?! I get to come home!" Her face lit up again as I took her into my arms once more and gave her sweet little kisses that made her giggle.

"Okay guys, you are going to spend one more day with your aunt and uncle while daddy gets used to being home," Courtney said sounding exasperated and tired at the same time. Although I really wanted to spend time with my kids, some settling in with Courtney alone would be nice.

"No! I wanna be wif daddy!" Alex yelled, her little voice rising octaves. I winced on impact, she sounded so much like Courtney when she was angry.

"Baby, you can be with me tomorrow. I promise, I just wanna go home and sleep and sleeping isn't very fun now is it?" She shook her head, her black ponytail flying everywhere.

"No! Daddy gonna leave 'gain! I don't want daddy to leave!" She shouted out, the waterworks coming any minute now. I rubbed her back and looked into her cloudy eyes to try and calm her down but it didn't work.

"I promise I'm not gonna leave again, I'll still see you tomorrow. I promise, and then we can play together." She shook her head again and started crying. I continued rubbing her back until I noticed that Courtney got up.

"Now that's enough," She snapped before picking up both the twins. "Your uncle Geoff is waiting for you guys outside," she continued before taking them both outside where I could her Alex crying her heart out and yelling. Damn that kid had her mother's lungs. Courtney came back about twenty minutes later, upset and worn out. She sat down on the edge of my bed and put her head in her hands while I wrapped my arms around her and exhaled.

"I hope she isn't too upset," I tried to say comfortingly to ease the situation a bit. It didn't help as Courtney sighed, frustrated, and shook her head a bit.

"Your hopes are false, she was bawling her eyes out as I tried to get her into the car," Courtney said while sounding disappointed in herself. I rubbed small circles on the small of her back, and tensed up a bit when she didn't relax into it like she normally would have.

"It's alright babe, she just missed me that's all," I tried in my most comforting tone possible. Courtney lifted up her head and scoffed before laughing a bit bitterly.

"Of course she did, she missed the one awesome parent in her life," she retorted and I shook my head. Was that what this was all about?

"Courtney, you're a great parent too."

"No I'm not, I couldn't even take care of them while you were gone..." That sparked up some anger in me, but I quickly let it go. Getting angry wouldn't solve anything between us.

"Well, it's a hard job when you're by yourself. There are two of them, after all and they can be quite a handful; I should know Courtney," I tried, and she moved closer to me and I let her cuddle up to my chest. It felt so good to have her in my arms; even though she had been in them for the past three days and barely left them. Yet, I couldn't shake off the feeling of her belonging with me, and every second she wasn't in my arms it didn't feel right.

"I stayed in our room all day, obsessing over you being gone, while Bridgette and Gwen took care of the kids. I'm an awful parent."

I noted her voice getting softer and her face getting redder with every few words she spoke. At last the truth of what really happened came out, but I wasn't surprised; I expected something of this sort. "You aren't awful," I told her. "You just have some minor flaws that we need to work on."

"Minor? Talk about major.." I kissed her forehead, letting her know that I understood what she meant. She gave off a small whimper when my lips touched her head and I knew that as soon as we had the house to ourselves, we had a lot of......work, to do.

"They love you they just don't love what you've become, but you can change that. Just try to spend more time with them and they'll come around. It's not like they'll hold a grudge," I chuckled to myself at the last part of my sentence. She shifted out of my arms and stood, stretching a bit.

"Yeah, I know," she paused for a moment, looking at me deeply and considering something. "I hate to exert you on your first day out of the hospital...but we have a lot of work to do."

I sighed, I wanted nothing more than to relax and actually sleep in my own bed. And to actually make sure Courtney got some well-deserved sleep too, along with making sure she got some other things, if you get what I'm saying. But that would all have to wait as I helped clean up her mess.

"It's alright, I don't mind. I'll manage," I assured her.

"Oh, before I forget, here." She tossed me a bag, to which the contents were my trademark Skull shirt, my baggy jeans, my red chucks and a skull hat to cover up my messed up hair.

"Thanks babe, I love ya," I casually retorted, relishing each word that came out of my mouth. She rolled her eyes and stepped out of the room, giving me some privacy to change. I stepped into my jeans first, slowly. It felt so good to have pants on, and baggy jeans too for that matter. Once I finished putting on all my clothes, I slid over so I was sitting over the edge of my bed. I carefully, stood up, grabbing the bed railing for support. I stretched a bit and took a few steps before convincing myself I could walk. I grabbed all my belongings in the room, and stepped outside without giving that damned room another glance.

I met up with my Princess who was smiling happily at me. I wrapped my arms around her small waist and kissed her head which made her giggle and smile happily at me.

"C'mon. Let's go home." We walked out side by side; finally, things were back to normal.

Or at least as normal as they could be between us.


	17. It's here: In which things get heated up

**FINALLLYYYY!! ITS HEREEEEE!!!! YEESSSSSS!!!! HAHAHAHAHAH!!! ok, you guys, I owe you a huge apology, but u don't blame anybody. My beta is busy and I understand that she has a life too. Thanks a lot to her and muchos kudos to her ^^. **

**In response to Childlike Complexion's review.....i owe you an apology. I am absolutely very sorry to you all that I posted a crappy 'poll chapter'. I'm usually not the type of author to do that and I try very hard not to be. I just wanted you guys to have a filler story while this one was waiting for a real update. So I am ver sorry if I wasted any of your time or got your hopes up....So you are absolutely right Childlike Complexion, and I'm very sorry and hope you can forgive me...**

**So you guys, enjoy, and love it, because it's what you've been waiting for!**

I lay frozen in bed while the anticipated alarm clock rang endlessly. It was when my husband squeezed my bare body to let me know that the dreaded time had come that I whimpered a bit. School.

Honestly, I'm already failing so what's even the point in going anymore? After everything that's happened, I don't even want to go to college anymore, but instead would rather stay home and be with my family. But I could never tell Duncan that, for he'd never let me hear the end of it.

"C'mon babe, get up," said man whispered in my ear when I didn't move from where I was curled up under the covers. "It's time to get ready for school," he continued while I groaned and planted myself firmly into the mattress and leaned further into Duncan's warm, comfortable and missed embrace.

"I don't wanna," I whined childishly while turning away from him and pulling the covers over my head. Duncan chuckled while running his hands up and down my stomach, stroking it gently with arousing touches.

"Are you a kid now too? 'Cause if you are, I really shouldn't be doing this right now." I rolled my eyes while his hands moved from my stomach, to my back; relaxing me with his strong, yet gentle hands.

"Very funny Duncan." He chuckled again before planting a kiss on my temple and getting up to stretch. I turned around to catch the nice view; never failing to become amazed with how damn good he looked naked. Duncan put his boxers on before coming to my side of the bed and crouching down so he was at level with my face. Gently, he pushed back a stray strand of my exceedingly long hair from my face before looking me in the eyes with a concerned look.

"What's wrong Princess? Why don't you want to go to school?" I turned away from him so he didn't have to see the traitor tears forming in my eyes and the worry leaking out from them.

"I just don't want to," which was the truth.

I didn't want to go and face Dana and her stupid clique; least of all Matt. They'd hate me and I'd be ridiculed forever. I knew what Dana could do for revenge and it wasn't pretty, and I especially wasn't looking forward to it. Just the thought of what she could do made me squirm and wince a bit.

Duncan must have seen, so he crawled in next to me and stroked my face; surprised when two tears brushed his fingers. "Why are you crying baby? What's wrong?" His voice was full of concern and I didn't want to trouble him with my foolish problems.

"Nothing; it's nothing Duncan."

"I think I know what's going on here," Duncan stated quietly. Damn, it drove me nuts as how he could see through me and figure me out so well.

"You're still worried I'm gonna leave you and you want to stay home with me and the kids. I know about your nightmares Courtney, you mumble in your sleep." I guess he didn't see through me all that well, but it wasn't so good that he knew about my nightmares. I _was_ secretly afraid that he was going to leave me again and it's a fear I'm sure I won't get over any time soon after everything that's happened.

When I didn't answer he pulled me onto his lap and stroked my long hair while cradling me with his other arm. "Baby, I'm not planning to leave anytime soon." Soon? Did he just say soon? He was planning to leave again?

"Soon?" My voice cracked as I uttered out the single word. "You're planning to leave again, just not soon?" I saw Duncan mentally hit himself in the face. He wasn't too good when it came to fast word choosing.

"Courtney, honey. The store is coming along really well and it'll only be a matter of time before it's finished and I'll have to start working." The fact that soon I wouldn't be able to see Duncan for five days at a week made me feel weak and slightly sick. I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to keep up a strong face when the time came to 'see him off', but for I'll let Duncan think what he wants because soon it won't matter much.

"Right, you're right Duncan." He kissed my head, lifted me off his lap, and proceeded to carry me into the bathroom and start the shower.

"You don't mind if I join you, right Princess?" He smirked and I giggled. A gasp left my lips when the warm water touched my skin after pulling Duncan in with me; said man laughing as he made sure to be careful around my bandaged arms while he washed my body with floral soap. Next he lathered my hair and massaged my head with his soothing fingers as I playfully ran my hand against his now buzzed hair and he pulled the ends of mine teasingly in return.

I stepped out of the shower and wrapped myself in a fluffy white towel, Duncan doing the same shortly after. Walking over to my closet, I pulled out a pair of skinny jeans and a T-shirt, some flip-flops to match, and then walked back to the bathroom where I grabbed a brush and sat on one of the stools to wait for Duncan.

I was aware when Duncan came back into the bathroom, pulling on his trademark skull shirt and then snatching the stuck hairbrush out of my hands and into his own. I raised my eyebrows at him and was about to remark about this when his unoccupied hand covered my mouth.

"You were hurting yourself," he pointed out and I crossed my arms stubbornly. "It wasn't doing any good and you don't have time to waste so just let me do it for you. It'll be less painful and it'll save you time." To say the least, I was surprised, but let him do as he pleased. I sighed in content at the relaxing feeling of him pulling the brush gently through my hair as the motion cleared my thoughts of what was to come in the next hour or so of school.

I watched as he worked out the large tangles piece by piece then brush the silky strands back into place. This went on for a few minutes, with only the occasional glance at each other in the mirror, said glance making us both smile and blush slightly. Too soon, he was finished and he brushed my hair off my shoulder, only to kiss it tenderly and watch me smile thankfully up at him before giving him a peck of his own.

"Thanks," I said softly while blushing once more. Duncan only shook his head and wrapped his strong, muscular arms around my shoulders. He nuzzled his head into my still-wet hair and inhaled deeply, clearly enjoying the scent of vanilla and lavender.

"I love you," he stated simply. I giggled and had to unfortunately step out of his tight embrace, knowing that I had to leave in about ten minutes. Quickly brushing my teeth, I shoved my hair in a clip and pulled on my flats before grabbing my bag, only to stumble and to drop said offending bag, not used to the weight of all my books at once.

Duncan quickly came to my aid, putting a calming hand on my aching shoulder and with the other, picked up my bag and handed it to me. "Princess, this sure is a lot of bags for you to carry around all day," he began, eyeing the amount skeptically, but I shook my head at his concern and took my bag from him.

"I'll be fine," I assured him, hoping I could believe my own words. I gave Duncan a gentle kiss when his eyes didn't cease to worry and he deepened it lustfully even though we just 'slept' together the previous night. Maybe if we kissed long enough, it would be too late to leave for school and I could stay home. As if sensing my clever strategy Duncan eased the kiss, pulled back, and smirked.

"What time is it babe?" he asked cockily and I frowned.

Damn.

**o 0 O 0 o**

As soon as I stepped out of our new car and into the school, the hating started. Girls scowled at me and gave me dirty looks as I passed by them, the male population doing no better as they snickered and grabbed my ass intentionally. I felt helpless and weak, but knew that I could do nothing but scowl and glare at them; the thought leaving the threat of tears from how pathetic I was. I watched as kids laughed at me and all the achieving clubs I had joined earlier in the year looked away out of shame. As I walked, I looked down; trying not to make eye contact and to hurry into class before I ran into-

"Oomph," I squealed as a high heeled boot tripped me. I looked up and saw my former clique snicker and giggle.

"What the hell are you wearing Court? Do you need me to come to your closet and show you what you should be wearing?" More laughs were heard and I struggled to pick my books and myself off the floor.

"C'mon sugar, we're hitting the bars," Dana said with a flick of her blonde hair.

"N-no. I don't want to be in your little group anymore. I want out," I stated firmly and somewhat confidently.

"What are you talking about babe?" Matt stepped forward and into my view and I blanked for a brief moment before seething in anger. How dare he call me that? I only liked it when Duncan, and Duncan _alone _called me that. Matt tried to come forward and caress my face, but I stepped back with disgust.

"Don't touch me! I don't want to be a part of anything you guys do anymore." Dana scowled and came forwards, pressing the heel of her boot into my thin flats. I tried to keep my face strong and emotionless as to not give her anymore power.

"You can't walk out on us you whore," she lashed out harshly. It didn't phase my bursting confidence a bit. I stepped back, gave a triumphant smirk and shrugged.

"Sorry, looks like I just did, Slut. Oh, and by the way, that skirt makes your ass look ten times wider." I paused to see Dana's cat eyes widen then narrow, followed by her nostrils flaring. She stepped forward again, yanked the clip out of my hair, and shoved my books on the floor. I gasped when she ground her heel into my foot, then realizing just how sharp her heels were.

"If you think you've seen the last of any of us, especially me, you're wrong. Bitch." She stalked off then after spitting her venom and the bell rang, leaving me late for class. I gathered my belongings and rushed to my first period, thrusting the door open breathlessly.

"How nice of you to join us Miss Evans, I assume you'll be joining me in detention too?" I gasped and snickers were heard. Detention was never, ever an option; not even when I was messed up.

"You don't understand Mrs. Lee, I've never gotten a single detention in my life!" People started laughing and my teacher smiled somewhat evilly at me.

"Well, I guess there's a first time for everything. Now take a seat before we make that a double." I stomped over to my seat and sat down sulkily. Not even half an hour into the school day and already I'd made sure that I would be late coming home. I quickly remembered that at least this time I could call Duncan from my cell phone and let him know I'd be running late. That would show him that I'd learned, and that I was more responsible now. With that thought in mind, I remained jittery for the rest of class, and as soon as the bell rang I ran out to my next one, only to pull out my phone and dial Duncan's number.

"Hey Honey," his sexy voice answered. The chills just his voice gave me made me wish I was just waking up now in his arms; whispering in my ear seducing sayings that would make me turn red. I brought myself back to reality and said hello back to him.

"Uh, babe, not to be rude...but aren't you supposed to be in class?"

"Yes, but I had to-"

"Miss Evans!" I cringed, not realizing that the bell had rung and the teacher had come up right behind me. She snatched the phone out of my hands, snapped it shut, and then locked it up in her desk. I couldn't escape another detention, and my phone got confiscated for the day.

Now how was I going to be able to call Duncan?

Unfortunately, the rest of the day went on like that; full of kids and teachers glaring and hating me along with multiple detentions for reasons I couldn't even remember anymore. I think the most eventful thing today was Dana and her wannabe group stealing my gym clothes, tripping me with their heels, oh and starting minor rumors. Oh how I missed high school.

The day went by slowly and painfully and by the time I'd left detention and stepped through the door to my house, I was ready to collapse on my bed and never return to any sort of school ever again. But I knew that wasn't possible due to me being in enormous trouble from my husband as soon as I stepped through the door.

"H-hello? Duncan? I'm home," I called out nervously while peeking throughout the house. I was relieved when I heard the little pitter patter of running footsteps rushing towards me.

"Mommy!" they cried. "Daddy, mommy's home!" I scooped up Alex into my arms and kissed her head while swinging her around. It felt so good to feel love after a day filled with hate and despise. Following right behind his sister, I soon felt Devon thud against my leg and I lifted him up into my arms as well. I could feel someone's eyes watching me and something told me it wasn't the squealing twins.

Sure enough, when I looked up, Duncan was leaning against the stairwell; his eyes glaring at me and seemingly burning holes into me. A disappointed look covered his face and he shook his head at me; the look leaving me fighting back a sob. He didn't even know what had happened and was already ashamed in me; so clearly showing that I hadn't earned back his trust yet.

"C'mon kids, Courtney, it's time for dinner.." I shook my head to the offer, not wanting to eat. What I really wanted to do was go to bed and wallow in my misery from the day despite how pathetic it was.

"I'm....not hungry," I said softly while wiping my eyes and heading for the stairs..

"You gotta eat something. You're skin and bones Courtney," Duncan pointed worriedly. I shook my head, turned around, and ran to the bedroom where I flung myself on the giant bed and inhaled deeply where I found Duncan's scent buried in the sheets. I could smell his delicious scent of danger, cologne, and his essence laced within the sheets; the smell leaving me feeling safe and comforted but at the same time so lost and hurt. It took all my willpower to keep me from starting to cry on the bed and wallow in misery.

I needed to quit school; surely Duncan would see that in time. Not right away, but he loved me and would do anything for me...right? The events that had just occurred meant nothing...hopefully.

I lay on our bed and stayed still like that for awhile, too tired to get up or change my position. At a point I couldn't take it anymore and started to cry silently, wiping my tears away when I became embarrassed with myself for crying over a stupid day of school...and the fact that my husband was mad at me.

It was only a few minutes later that Duncan came in; moving quietly and setting something heavy down on the dresser. I couldn't tell because my face was buried into the bed and I didn't bother to look up, not wanting Duncan to know I'd been crying for a while. What would he think then?

"I brought you some food," he quietly said, sounding a bit guilty and worried. How thoughtful of him to bring me food, I thought somewhat sarcastically. Nice to know that he t cared marginally about me and my well-being.

"I'm not hungry," I murmured, even though I was a bit hungry because I hadn't eaten much today.

"And I don't care princess, you're skin and bones. You gotta eat," he told me again, but I just shook my head stubbornly against the bed and Duncan sighed. I could hear him starting to pace the room in a nervous way. I took in a shaky breath; here it comes...

"What the hell were you thinking Courtney?! You promised, no you _swore_ to me that you'd never go down this road again! I thought we'd fixed everything!"

"We did Duncan, we did," I answered shakily, my voice muffled by the bed.

"Then what happened? The lure of the bar and alcohol just get to you?" He might as well have just punched me in the stomach; his words making me feel weak, nauseas, and most of all disgusted with myself because I deserved the harsh treatment.

"N-no, of course not. I did promise you that."

"Then where were you?" He asked exasperatedly. As much as I wanted to lie, I didn't have the heart to do it.

"D-detention," I stammered out, embarrassed with myself that while I had said it a sob slipped out. I heard Duncan stop his pacing and I still refused to look up at him; a few more tears had slipped out and I couldn't let him see.

"I'm sorry Courtney, but I find that kinda hard to believe. Why would _Princess_ get detention?" He had a point, but everyone's late to class once in awhile. And Duncan didn't have to know about the whole Dana thing; that was my problem, not his.

"She was late to class, but she didn't mean to be. It wasn't her fault," I whimpered the last part out softly, resisting choking out another sob. Duncan sat on the bed, and started rubbing my back. I couldn't make up my mind whether to forgive him immediately or not, but his touch was so alluring. It took all of my strength to not relax and lean into it.

"And she couldn't call to tell me this because?" He continued, still referring to third person. I lifted my head up for a moment, avoiding Duncan's gaze, and wiped away some tears before sniffling; putting my head back down and emitting a few more tears into the damp bedspread.

"She, did...well tried to, but her teacher confiscated her phone before she could."

"Sounds like she could use a big hug and kiss right now," he said softly, and lifting my eyes a bit, I could see him looking downward and playing with the loose threads of the bedspread. I sniffled again, and took a few moments before answering.

"That would be correct." I let him lift me up and pull me into his arms, holding me tight then giving me a peck on the lips. It didn't give me the same exact pleasure as I thought it would, but it was nice nonetheless. I sustained from crying into his shirt as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and let him rock me back and forth.

"Seems like you had a rough day," Duncan murmured while knotting his fingers in my disheveled hair.

"That would also be correct." I nuzzled into Duncan's chest, content all the while. It felt so good to be here in my husband's arms, feeling loved instead of hated. Without meaning to, I let a few tears slip loose, and they landed on the back of Duncan's shirt. He came to realization quickly, pulling back to look into my blood-shot eyes and noticed the few tears that were dripping down from them. He pulled me close again, kissing my head and murmuring soft reassurances in my ear.

"Princess, baby, it's okay. You're okay. Please stop crying, you hurt me when you cry. I don't know what's wrong or how to help..." he trailed off as I tightened my grip on him. I tried to choke off the tears as he continued to reassure me, but it was hard. We stayed silent for a few minutes, him hugging me and me just clutching onto him while being rocked back and forth before I yawned and rubbed my eyes.

"I'm tired, can we go to bed?" Duncan smirked at me and was about to remark about something perverted before he took in the gaunt and upset look in my eyes and backed off. I backed out of his arms, stripped off my skinny jeans and crawled in under the covers. Duncan followed my lead and changed into his sweatpants, took off his shirt and then crawled in next to me to put his arm around my waist.

"Are you gonna be okay Princess? You really worried me back there." I didn't answer. Though I wanted to say yes, I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure what mishaps and trouble I was going to get into. And I wasn't sure if I could handle it all.

I shifted over to face Duncan, who looked at me with curious eyes, and gave him a short, but sweet kiss. That made a soft groan escape his lips, but other than that he didn't do anything but wrap both his arms around me.

"One more Princess? Please?" he whined seductively in my ear. I sighed and gave in, rolling over on top of him and kissing him to my heart's extent. I moaned a bit and he responded by taking off my shirt. My hands reached his sweats but it was no use; I collapsed on his chest and was unconscious before he could call my name.

**o 0 O 0 o**

The next two weeks went by much like the first couple of days, only significantly worse. I pondered this as I sat in detention yet again. Dana and her brainwashed clique didn't cease to make my life miserable and as hard as I tried, I couldn't avoid detention which didn't help my situation at home _at all_. It seemed like Duncan and I were worse than ever since I didn't talk to him about Dana since I didn't want to worry him with my stupid problems and I was always away at detention; coming home exhausted and not the happy housewife I knew he wanted. If I told him about everything at school, he'd probably just tell me to suck it up and deal with it for the year since I had already begged so much to get in in the first place.

I can't do that, though. I'm not willing to be pushed around, beat up, and called names by a bunch of stupid 'populars' for the rest of the year. Duncan would understand....right?

I glanced at the clock; three fifty. Only ten more minutes in this hell-hole of a school. I then realized something important; why was I in detention? I wasn't late, and I behaved. And wasn't Dana the one skipping classes? It's time to take a stand, I decided confidently. With this new boost of confidence, I marched over to the teacher's desk and crossed my arms over my chest defiantly.

"Excuse me, but why am I in detention? I wasn't late to class and I didn't misbehave during class, so what gives?" I watched as the lazy teacher raised her eyebrows at me and sighed.

"Take a seat Miss Evans; this is not the time to be discussing this."

"No I will not take a seat; I have a right to know why I'm in detention," I spat out harshly. Why was this old bat being so difficult?

"Just sit down; you have less than ten minutes till you get to go home to your mindless video games and partying." Excuse me?! Partying was the last thing on my mind!

I clenched my fists and gave her an angry scowl. "I do not go home to party," I informed her. "I go home to my two babies who need their mother, and would rather she came home to them than be stuck in detention for no apparent reason." I resisted the urge to growl at her as her eyes widened and her lips formed into a scowl.

"I will give you one more chance, Courtney, to go sit down and then leave when you're supposed to leave."

"Not until you tell me why the hell I'm even here in the first place!"

"That's enough! One more hour of detention for you, and if you so much utter another sound I will send you to the principal!" I gaped at her; what a complete witch! Now I'd be even later coming home, and it wasn't even my fault; she was being a total hag.

I glanced out the door and could've sworn I saw a flash of blonde hair. I ignored it for a passerby teacher and slumped at my desk. What had I gotten myself into?

**o 0 O 0 o**

"No, no! I'm serious! I could see Ms. Havemyres thing the whole time," Claire burst out, laughing all the while. She, Melissa, Amber, Joanie and I were lounging on the pink plush carpet in my giant room, everyone laughing at what Claire had said. Except me; I was too busy pondering other things.

Was what Courtney had said back there really true? She had kids? How old was she then? All of these questions buzzed around in my head while the morons before me laughed at the stupid joke.

Suddenly a thought occurred to me. What if I could use this information to my advantage? All of these stupid pranks and silly rumors we spread around the past two weeks were getting old and boring. We needed something new, something raw and unused. I could ruin her life with the slightest proof that what she said was true. That would teach her to ditch my clique without my approval.

I was interrupted from my clever scheming when I noticed that the giggling had stopped and the girls had upset expressions on their faces. "Why doesn't Coralline hang out with us anymore?" Claire asked quietly. I rolled my eyes at her forgetfulness of people's names. She, like her older sister, wasn't the sharpest tool in the tool shed, so Claire tended to mess up people's names a lot.

"First off Claire, it's _Courtney_, not Coralline," I remarked snidely, gloating when her face fell.

"Oopsie, sorry Dana. But really, why doesn't she hang out with us anymore? And why do we do those mean things to her all the time? Like, always throw the balls at her in dodge ball; especially at her back. Oh and like make her trip in the hallways, especially when she's wearing heels, 'cause, she always gets hurt when that happens."

"Does she not like us anymore?" Joanie asked curiously, ignoring Claire's comment about my obvious revenge to Courtney. I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to get all the girls to turn on her completely. They were stupid enough to believe anything I said.

"She never likes you, or me, or any of us for that matter," I said, faking sadness and innocence the whole time. They clung to my every word, just like I'd expected.

"What? But we had sleepovers, and we danced together! She even promised to do my hair!" Claire exclaimed and I nodded sadly while patting her back with mock sympathy.

"She was just using you honey. She used us all." I watched as mouths fell open and eyes widened.

"She just used us to become popular, to find out gossip, secrets, and information about all of us. She just wanted to betray us. I've heard that she's even started some rumors about us already!" I continued, wiping away a fake tear for measure.

"No way!"

"She knows all my deep dark secrets!"

"We have to get revenge!" I smirked at the outrage a few lies could cause. These bimbos would believe anything and they were currently eating up every word like starving animals.

"You're absolutely right Amber. Who's up for a little research?"

"Ugh! I hate learning!" Claire whined and again I rolled my eyes at her stupidity. I crowded all of the girls around my laptop as I started up the Google search engine. I typed in _Courtney Evans_ into the search bar, but nothing came up. I pondered for a bit in confusion; wondering if that was even her real name?

"Ooh! I remember something! My older sister Lindsay said she knew a Colline back on a TV show she was on!" For once I looked past her name goof and patted her on the head while she grinned like an idiot. But what were the odds?

"Do you remember what the name of this show was?"

"It was like, _Total Drama Paradise_ or something."

"No, it was _Total Drama Island_! I remember watching it when I was like, twelve. But the Courtney on that show was really bossy and like, really uptight. The Courtney we knew was really loose, and she drank a lot. And she knew how to have fun." I ignored her comment and typed in the new search; this one getting much more results. I clicked on the Wikipedia profile of her from the show and there she was; clearly much younger and with much shorter hair, but there all the same. I read everything, from her profile, to her role on the show, to her relationship with this 'Duncan' guy, to the show itself and everything. While my mind was whirling with all this newly acclaimed information and newly formed questions, I looked on the bottom where a small note was written in Italics.

_It has been found out that Courtney, at the age of 18, had a set of twins, a boy and a girl. One year later she married her four year boyfriend, two year fiancé, and the twin's father, Duncan. They now reside somewhere in Canada, far away from most of the other contestants._

So it was true! I could make her life so miserable now; but who was this Duncan? With just a little more knowledge, I could use that information to my advantage as well. Following a link, I read their relationship page, along with his profile too. She was married to a criminal, a freaking criminal! A criminal who flirts with every girl he sees. Chances are he knocked her up and had nothing better to do than marry her sorry ass. I could really use that information to my advantage.

I smiled wickedly. In less than 30 minutes, I had acquired all the proof and information I needed, and more. She's gonna wish she lived in Africa, starving and begging for necessities by the time I'm through with her.

"Girls, I think it's time we stop these silly pranks and teach Courtney a little lesson in respect," I said viciously, a wicked smile twisting my features.

"How we gonna do that?" Claire stupidly asked as if not paying attention to what we'd just been doing for the past half hour.

"We need to ruin her fuc**** life," Joanie answered and the rest of us nodded in agreement. We wouldn't do it right away, however. Save the best for last, right?

"Well then it's settled," I said. "C'mon, the boys are waiting for us at the bar," I continued while everyone got up and started to head out of my bedroom.

"Wait, does this mean Cornelia wont do my hair like she promised? 'Cause she has _really_ great hair and- Ow!"

Easy as taking candy from a very stupid baby..

**o 0 O 0 o**

I stormed into my house, slamming the door behind me; still obviously pissed that I had to stay at school for an extra hour. Duncan looked up casually at my entrance but didn't smile like he normally would've.

"Oh, don't rush to come home much," he retorted lazily, bouncing Devon on his lap a bit.

"Not my fault I had detention," I growled. God I was tired, plopping down on the couch and exhaling loudly..

"Detention ended an hour ago, Courtney." I could always lie and say I got caught in traffic or something, but since when has lying done me _any_ good?

"Uh, well..."

"C'mon Courtney, we've already been through stupid shit like this once already. Just spit it out already," Duncan stated hotly, quickly cutting to the chase. Something was different about his attitude, I couldn't pinpoint what exactly, but it irritated me a great deal.

"Well, an old hag that was monitoring detention kept me there an extra hour," I stated defiantly, sitting up and raking a hand through my messy hair. I quickly looked at Duncan who was observing me with a keen eye.

"And why would she do that? C'mon, even I know that if you sit down quietly like a good girl during detention, you won't get into any more trouble." Well, too late for any other excuses now.

"Well," I started sheepishly. "I kinda back-talked the teacher because she was being a total bit-" I stopped when I realized Devon was in the room with us. "Witch, and she wouldn't even tell me why I was in detention in the first place." Duncan sighed and shook his head at me before getting up, putting Devon on my lap, and heading to the kitchen.

"Princess, sometimes you really gotta learn to shut your big mouth." I scoffed and frowned, that wasn't like Duncan at all to say something rude like that. Ok maybe it was, but not to me. And it was true, but still......why did he sound so harsh when he said it.

"Yeah, well, she put me in detention for no reason," I argued, already ticked off at his non-caring attitude. Did I do something, forget something important? Any reason of why he'd be mad at me didn't come.

"Teachers always have a reason for putting someone in detention, you must have done _something_ to be put in detention," he said loudly from the kitchen. Since when did he argue for authority? And why wasn't he on my side?

"I didn't do anything! Why aren't you on my side?" I asked, raising my voice a bit, but saying the last part softly so he wouldn't really hear. Devon looked at me with curious eyes and I patted his head to let him know I was alright.

"Mommy and daddy fightin' 'gain?" he asked sadly. I snuggled him to my chest and kissed his head. Always fighting, why is that? Are we that dysfunctional?

"Look, all I'm saying is that if I could keep my mouth shut around you, it's highly possible that you can do the same around an old bat," he said with a slightly kinder tone.

He came back and sat next to me, putting an arm around my shoulders lazily and I didn't have the heart to shrug it off. Maybe he just had a bad day and that's why he was acting this way. Duncan didn't see anything wrong with what we had just been fighting about, and if he wasn't going to say anything, then I definitely wasn't going to start something. Not after we'd just made up...again.

"Where's Alex?" I questioned, looking at Devon and wondering where my other baby was; putting off the talk I wanted to have with Duncan until we were alone.

"Well, she threw a tantrum during lunch, and wouldn't eat, so I kept her in her room in time-out until you came home."

"Looks like somebody's on her way to the terrible three's," I muttered while Duncan just shrugged.

"You should probably go talk to her, I think she hates me now," he said quietly while taking Devon from my arms. I trailed my fingers along his neck, making a small, pleasured sigh escape his lips. I kissed his cheek softly and cuddled up to his side, playing with my small son's fingers in the process.

"She doesn't hate you, she never could. She's almost three and is probably upset that things didn't go her way for once," I assured him as he sighed and his fingers played with the ends of my hair playfully.

"You're probably right. But still, you should go." I sighed and stood up, unwinding my hand that was slung around his neck. Taking my time, I headed upstairs to the twin's room; opening the door quietly as to not and disturb my other child. I turned on the lamp next to Alex's crib and leaned over the top, smiling softly when I saw her sleeping figure. I trailed my fingers down her cheek which caused her to awaken a bit from her slumber.

"Alex, baby I'm home." She opened her blue eyes slowly, and blinked them a few times before raising her arms to be lifted up. Smiling fondly, I lifted her out of her crib and sat us both down on the rocker, kissing her disheveled hair and rocking us both softly.

"Daddy told me you weren't being a very good girl today," I said quietly, breaking the peaceful silence. She looked up at me with defiance and pouted cutely.

"Daddy was mean! Don't let me bring Mishy to eat lunch!" she stated, referring to the giant stuffed dog Duncan had bought her to make up for when he left. Alex and Mishy were inseparable, and just imagining the tantrum she would've thrown gave me a headache.

"Daddy wasn't being mean, he......didn't want Mishy to get dirty from the food," I tried, managing to reason with her as I watched her face fall.

"Oh......but daddy took Mishy away from me! Daddy won't give Mishy back!" She cried, tears already running down her flushed cheeks from the memory. I stroked her hair and tried to dry her small tears.

"Did you say something to daddy? Something not very nice?" She took a minute before looking down and nodding sadly.

"Well, why don't we go down so you can apologize? Daddy's really hurt that he had to take Mishy from you and he thinks you don't love him anymore." I mentally smirked when her mood took a turn and changed from one of sadness to one of shock. Duncan so owed me.

"I love daddy! Can we go down, can we?!" I giggled a bit at her eagerness before reaching for the small brush on the dresser and pulling it through her tangles.

"Let's get you cleaned up first," I suggested, wiping away the rest of her tears, and then making her blow her nose into a tissue. I changed her clothes from her soiled and wrinkled overalls and t-shirt to her footsie pajamas. There was no point putting her in regular clothes, she'd be going to bed soon anyways.

When she looked refreshed and cleaner, I carried her downstairs where I could hear the TV running and the smell of something revolting cooking. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. How did any of them survive on Duncan's terrible cooking?

"Duncan?" I called, making him look up from the TV and sit up straighter on the couch. "I think someone here has something she'd like to say to you," I continued, while Alex, upon seeing Duncan, hid her face in my neck. I tried to urge her to look up but she remained stubborn and hid in my neck, leaving me to look apologetically at Duncan, who chuckled and motioned us forward. I walked over, and felt Alex stiffen when I sat on the couch. Duncan chuckled again when she continued to hide her face in my neck.

"Well, I don't know Courtney. Doesn't seem like anyone wants to say anything right now," he said, mocking sadness and speaking loud enough for Alex to hear, then turning his attention back to the TV; not that she'd be able to tell the difference whether he was really upset or not. And truthfully, I think he was a bit upset, not that he'd tell anyone.

Alex slowly lifted her head up and I nudged her forward towards her father. She faltered a little when he didn't take notice of her and continued to keep his arms crossed on his chest. "Daddy?" she spoke out unsurely. Briefly he glanced at her but continued to remain indifferent before turning his attention back to the TV.

"Yes, Alex?" She put a small hand on his arm which he casually shrugged off and made hurt fill her eyes. I could only look at this and watch with curious eyes. What was he trying to do, make her cry? One more look at her already tearing up eyes proved that he was going to do just that. I reached out to take her into my arms and console her but he stopped me and gave me a warning look before resuming his uncaring position.

"I'm sowwy daddy...I'm sowwy fow callin' you mean..." her voice trembled and cracked and I watched Duncan melt under her apology. He held his arms out for her and she jumped into them hastily, already starting to cry. I watched as he kissed her head and consoled her with soft murmurs that only she could hear. I felt myself wanting to cry and made to leave the room as to not ruin their moment, but before I could take more than two steps, Duncan had enclosed his hand around my own and snuggled me close to him.

"I forgive you Alex, and maybe I was a bit mean," he admitted, getting up and picking Devon up from the floor to sitting him in my lap. Duncan continued into the kitchen where he disappeared for a few moments before returning with a giant Mishy in his hands.

"Mishy!" Alex squealed while jumping up excitedly. I couldn't help but smile as Duncan handed the plush dog back to Alex, who reunited with it happily.

"Yeah, I think it was a bit unfair of me to take it away from her," he admitted sheepishly to me while sitting back down and wrapping an arm around my waist. I kissed his cheek proudly. He took this situation so well, in such an easy-going way. Maybe I'd judged him too harshly when I thought he wouldn't let me quit.

"I think the Mac-n'-cheese is ready," Duncan said hesitantly while I wrinkled my nose again.

"Over my dead body am I, or my kids, eating that," I stated as if I was talking about radioactive waste rather than Duncan's cooking. Wait, scratch that; Duncan's cooking is radioactive waste.

"Fine, fine. I'll make us some sandwiches. The kids will be okay with formula, right?" I nodded and he set off to the kitchen to make us some edible food.

**o 0 O 0 o**

I sat on the couch, playing with my fingers idly while waiting for Duncan to come back from tucking in the kids. It was time, time to finally talk to Duncan about me quitting school. I took in a shaky breath as I hoped that the outcome would turn out alright. Duncan put his hands over my eyes, taking me out of my thoughts.

"So, I was thinking, maybe a movie? Something scary that'll make you cower and stay in my arms?" I giggled at the thought, but pulled him over so he could sit next to me.

"Actually, I want to talk to you about something," I said nervously. He raised his eyebrows at me and let go of my hands.

"Uh, sure babe. Shoot."

"And you promise to listen to me with an open mind?" He chuckled before taking my hands again and rubbing them reassuringly.

"Yeah, I promise! You trust me right?"

"But of course. Ok, so here goes. I want to quit school." I watched as the grin melted from his face, formed a look of shock, then to one of upset. Then, when I least expected it, he burst out laughing. I giggled too, wondering if this was going to be easy after all.

"You know," he started, wiping at a tear from his eye. "I've always liked your humor when you used it." The smile immediately vanished from my face as he stood up. "I'm getting a drink, want anything? Water?"

"Duncan, that wasn't a joke. I'm serious, I want to quit school." He turned back around and sat on the couch again, his expression stern and slightly angry.

"You have to go to school. We didn't waste all this time and energy for you to call it quits. We've sacrificed so much; you can't stop now." He had many points there, but hopefully I had more.

"But it's not a good place for me to be in.. And I'm failing anyways, so why not quit now?"

"You've gone so far, you're not quitting. Not now, not ever. You're almost done, just a few more months, you can do it."

"Duncan do you love me?"

"Of course," he answered, thinking he got through to me.

"Then let me quit, because if you don't, you don't love me enough."

"Then I guess I don't, because I won't let you," he replied acidly, turning away from me. Oh no, I couldn't have him be mad at me again. Not already. Why did I even say that? It's better to just give up now and try again later when he's in a better mood, I decided bitterly.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it. I wasn't thinking straight." I tried putting a hand on his back but he only shrugged it off.

"Why do you always do that?" he questioned grumpily while I sheepishly smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," I repeated in an attempt to soften him up. It didn't work as he sighed, frustrated.

"Honestly I don't see where our communication skills went. This would've never happened if.....never mind, I'm going to get a beer." He stood up and headed to the kitchen where I heard him open the fridge and grab a bottle before sitting back down on the couch.

"Are you mad at me? Please don't be mad at me," I pleaded, looking at him with desperation in my eyes. I saw something spark in his eyes as he turned his head away.

"I have no reason to be," he stated with anger in his voice.

"Please? I'm really sorry. I love you and I'd hate it if you were mad at me."

"I have no reason to be, so just lay off!" He chugged down half the bottle of beer and I cringed from the smell of alcohol which made me whimper as I turned away, fighting the urge to cry.

"All I wanted to do was stay here and be with my kids..." I mumbled inaudibly while Duncan turned to look at me.

"What was that?" he questioned while taking another drink from the poison.

"I...I'm tired...I think I'm gonna go to bed..." I stated tiredly, already sick of smelling the alcoholic crap he was drinking. It made me want to hurl, and then grab one for myself. No, no, I had to beat this damn addiction. I took a shaky breath and tried to stand up, but Duncan grabbed my arm and turned me around to face him. He scanned me up and down before raising his eyebrows at me.

"I'm not an idiot, I know you said nothing like that," he said concernedly while trying to pull me closer to him. I allowed and he raised my head up to look at him.

"It...it doesn't matter. You wouldn't care about it," I stated sadly while looking back down. He chortled a bit before running a hand down his face, obviously starting to get frustrated with the conversation.

"Yeah, 'cause, I never care 'bout you, and what you have to say," Duncan said bitterly and I gaped at him. What the hell was that?

"You don't?" I choked out uncertainly, not sure of what he would answer.

"Well, that's what you seem to think!" he accused, and I tried to shrink away from him as the truth began to settle in. Sometimes I did honestly think that, but I could never tell him that to his face because it would hurt him.

"I know you care, because you love me. And I care too, because I love you very, very much." I saw something in his eyes that sparked mischievously. What was he planning?

"I don't know if I can believe that, I guess you're gonna have to prove it to me," he stated, clearly having a hidden thought behind his words. I was about to ask what he meant, but then I saw him lean back on the couch, a sexy smirk on his lips. Then it all clicked. That perverted, scheming, selfish pig! He was playing this attitude just so I would _kiss _him?!

I crouched down in front of him, put my hands on his cheeks and pulled his face towards mine for a big kiss. I pulled away after five seconds, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

"There, I proved it. Happy now?" I asked acidly and he just smirked happily while leaning back into the couch. When he took notice of my pissed expression he simply chuckled and tried to caress my face, which I promptly backed out of.

"C'mon, I was just messing around. Don't be like that." I stood up and stormed off angrily towards the stairs.

"You annoying, perverted, lousy, good for nothing, scheming pig! You actually made me feel bad!" I exclaimed angrily, my voice rising octaves.

"Now, that kinda hurt Princess. Chill out, I was just playing. You're too sexy for your own damn good." I screamed out of frustration before climbing the stairs furiously. Soon I reached the bedroom and he stood behind me.

"C'mon Princess, it was pretty good, just admit it. I just want you so badly, I missed you," he tried while smirking all the while. How did I reply? I slammed the door in his unsuspecting face. Through the door, I heard him cuss while I proceeded to begin pacing across the room.

I can't believe he made me upset like that, and he was joking the whole time.. Maybe, just maybe, if I showed him that I was capable of listening and being pretty reasonable with the situation, he would ease up on my situation of quitting school. Yeah, that could work. I already felt the anger seep out of me as I heard him pound on the door rather loudly.

"Princess open up! C'mon please? I just want to talk," he reasoned while his voice grew whinier. I opened the door then sat down on the bed, my arms crossed across my chest.

"Will you listen to me?" he asked uncertainly with a hint of confusion.

"Of course _I'll_ listen to you. I'm all ears," I stated, sitting up straighter on the bed as he sat down next to me with guilt ridden eyes.

"I made a mistake, okay? I shouldn't have done that. I'm...well, I'm sorry." It felt good to hear his apology and I wrapped an arm around his chest as a sign of forgiveness. He groaned a bit before sinking down into the mattress. "It's just that, I've been a bit stressed with working from home, and taking care of the kids, and you coming home late," Duncan continued to explain to me as I nodded and yawned a bit before stretching out.

"Hand me your shirt over there?" I asked while pulling off my sweatpants. He smirked and went to the closet, pulling out one of his many trademark skull shirts. He chuckled when I raised my eyebrows curiously at him.

"Want me to put it on you?" he asked devilishly and I narrowed my eyes sexily at him.

"Only if you think you're up for the challenge," I remarked, pulling off my outer shirt and laying down on the bed in nothing but my panties and a skimpy tank-top that revealed my bra. His eyes took in all of my features lazily, scanning me up and down and making me blush heavily. He took notice and his mouth set into a permanent smirk.

"I'm up for any challenge you throw at me, Princess."

Without warning Duncan sprung on to the bed, pulling me into his arms quickly while forcing his lips onto mine. He kissed me with such passion that I felt my body quiver and heat up immediately, these feelings intensifying as his hands began to knot in my hair and I ran my hand along his buzzed head. Duncan slid my tank-top down, exposing my simple black bra,-a size too small I might add- to Duncan, who was enjoying every second. Torturously slow, he slid his hands up my semi-bare stomach, making me shiver and moan in delight. His hands roamed higher, reaching for my chest, and once there, his hands started kneading against my breasts in a way that left me whimpering and moaning while I leaned back into his arms. It was when his hands reached towards my back to unhook my bra that I snapped back into reality, stopping him from going any further by quickly pulling his hands away from my body.

As much as I wanted to, I couldn't sleep with Duncan; not tonight at least. I couldn't risk him finding out about my ruined back, covered in bruises and red splotches from dodge ball during PE today, something Dana and her clique hadn't let the opportunity slide. I was ashamed of them and if Duncan found out...I don't know what he'd do.

"I don't want to have sex tonight," I stated clearly yet a bit sadly, pulling my tank completely off and replacing it with Duncan's shirt rather quickly. The shirt fit loosely around me, sliding ever so slightly on my shoulder. He didn't pull back but turned me around to face him.

"You take out all the fun," he semi-whined, hugging me close. I giggled a bit and stroked his cheek; he was so cute when he was desperate.

"Not tonight, I'm just too tired. Plus, I have school tomorrow. If we have sex, I'll never wake up on time," I reasoned, lying through my teeth, but smiling when he bought it and sighed in displeasure.

"Whatever you say, Princess." My hand stroked his cheek as I snuggled up to him and kissed his nose.

"So, how was your day?" I asked, changing the subject. He groaned and shook his head.

"Working from home was stressful and the kids were a handful. And there's this one spot on my back that's been killing me." I giggled and stroked my nails along his chest, making goose bumps arise.

"Want me to get that for you?"

"Yes ma'am," he said with an imitation southern drawl. I laughed and motioned him to turn over, which he did happily. I pulled off his tight black T-shirt and gazed dreamily at his well-toned muscles before starting to rub and knead my hands along the hard muscles; the touch making him shiver in delight.

"Did I get it yet?"

"No, just a little to the......ah. There we go." I giggled again when he sighed in pleasure. Still massaging Duncan's back, I bent over to place small kisses trailing downward on his skin and he chuckled and turned back over.

"You want the royal treatment too?" he asked while sliding his hands up my shirt and rubbing circles on my stomach. I moaned in pleasure for a second before remembering the many bruises on my back and had to sadly move his hands away.

"No....no that's okay."

"Aw, why not Princess? You were already liking it," he accused playfully and I kissed the hands that lingered at my sides.

"Not tonight Duncan, just go to sleep." Said man shrugged and gave me a final, tight squeeze before giving me a quick peck on the cheek and turning off the lamp. As he retreated to his side of the bed, I huddled under the covers on my side; disappointed that Duncan didn't put up a bigger argument. I know that we're both tired and I'm not exactly being open with him, but it'd still be nice if my husband noticed when something was off and investigated instead of just going to sleep.

Many minutes were passed tossing and turning around in solitude. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fall asleep. Soon after, I found that I couldn't shake off the feeling of loneliness no matter how hard I tried and it was beginning to make me stir crazy. Hoping it would help shake off the feeling, I took a quick glance at Duncan, who had presumably fallen asleep, his hands behind his head in a careless manner. It didn't help because soon thoughts were invading my head and I was finding it even harder to fall asleep.

Was he feeling as lonely as I was? The answer to that was a clear 'no' since he looked right at peace and had had no trouble falling asleep immediately. Surely Duncan wouldn't mind if I cuddled up next to him, right? And he was asleep anyways so if he said anything in the morning, I could claim I was asleep. I shifted closer, and closer to him until I could easily cuddle up next to him. I shifted my leg over one of his and cuddled up to his side, putting a hand lazily on his bare, muscled chest. I tensed when arms encircled me and his still figure came to life and chuckled.

"Couldn't sleep, huh Princess?" I tensed again and started to back off, but his arms held me tight. I continued to resist and he chuckled again, moving his hands up and down my arms, making goose bumps arise on my arms.

"You know, it's not a crime to want to cuddle with your husband," he remarked smoothly and I knew he was right. We were silent for a few moments before I quietly spoke.

"I know." Duncan kissed my head and I snuggled deeper into his chest.

"But I think it's cute that you're too embarrassed to actually come out and do it while I'm conscious; you wait 'til I'm asleep to do it." I turned red, unable to deny it as it was the truth. Unfortunately Duncan took notice of my face darkening and the heat radiating from it and chuckled once again, the sound leaving me feeling warm and content.

"Looks like somebody's embarrassed," he teased playfully as I looked down. He chuckled again and tilted my head up so I was looking up into his amused and playful blue orbs before he placed a small kiss on my forehead.

"I...I got lonely..," I said softly, tracing patterns on Duncan's chest. His grip on me tightened and he buried his face in my hair, inhaling the sweet scents of vanilla and lavender deeply.

"Next time you get lonely; don't hesitate to come to me. I'll always be here for you, you hear me?"

"Loud and clear." And with that, I snuggled into his warm chest and inhaled his spicy smell. God, he smelled so...sexy. How could I have ever cheated on him? The dark memories made me shiver and Duncan increased his hold protectively. I looked up into his worried eyes and stayed like that for a moment.

"I love you," I whispered into the darkness of the room. Duncan's arms gave me a reassuring squeeze before he removed one to stroke my long hair.

"I love you too Princess." I stayed silent, trailing my fingers across Duncan's heated chest.

"Nice to hear," I said softly before closing my eyes. At least I was loved at home, away from school, away from Dana. That still didn't change my mind though, for I knew I needed to quit. The problem was convincing Duncan that I needed to quit too.

Maybe things would get worse from here; he would see...he would see.


	18. Little Moments Make Big Differences

**Hey guys! Who's excited that this story is up and running again? For sure I know I am!!!! Now for some 'housekeeping business'. The next two chapters are more or less written, and can be updated regularly (within one week intervals). Now when I do update...hahah, my beloved readers, that's up to you guys :)**

**A lot of credit goes to my beta, Kattie, as she was a SUPER MAJOR HELP. I'd also like to thank TheateroftheMind; even though she isn't really part of the fanfiction world anymore, she's been a large help to me with past chapters, and with some of the upcoming chapters. Seriously, I wouldn't have been able to do this without her. I would also like to thank ProfessorMads cause....well cause she's just AWESOME. She's been a big help to me too, and a great source of inspiration. Another person--and I swear its the last!!-- is my new friend Maca. She's been a great help too!**

**Now some news for those of you waiting for Prinzessin: I'm starting to write up the chapter. I'm still a bit stuck, but thanks to some wonderful advice from mende5525, I have a great idea for the smut scene. I'm not doing a completely full out smut scene, but will rather do it my own way and surprise you. No worries, there will be smut! And quite a lot, I promise! Thanks for all of you who gave me your opinions, you guys are amazing, I love you :) **

**Okay, now to the story, I think you guys will enjoy it!**

The next few weeks went by smoothly, much to my satisfaction. Dana and her clique kept to stupid, childish pranks, and life was pretty peaceful. Duncan was becoming more manageable, and my attempts to get him to let me quit were weakened to small, meaningless pleas.

The day started out a bit strange, waking up to a feeling of nausea and dashing to the bathroom to puke; Duncan for once not holding my hair back and comforting me. I brushed it off, even though it happened the past few days as well, as some little flu that was going around school. Except that I felt fine afterwards. Duncan woke up while I was getting dressed, kissing me all over before I shooed him so I could get ready. I left for the hell-hole soon after, kissing both my kids and husband goodbye before I left.

School seemed different when I walked in; I was accustomed to the now-rare glares from some of the student body. But now, they were all snickering, most of them starting to laugh when they caught my confused glare. What was going on? My heels click-clacked nervously along the cheap linoleum as I hesitantly walked to my first period. Then I started catching some of the whispers.

'Once a bitch always a bitch.'

'I knew I recognized that shrill, nagging voice from somewhere.'

'What the hell is she doing here anyways? She's like, almost twenty for Christ-sakes!'

I sped up my walk, fighting back tears as I practically ran down the hallway.

How did they know? How on earth did everyone find out? I had made sure not to tell anyone my real age, or about my time on that god-forsaken island, but here people were whispering about it. Unless someone was stalking me, then decided to blab to the whole school, I couldn't think of any other way they could have found out. But seriously, what were the odds of that?

I entered my first period and sank into my seat, feeling rather jittery, my mind buzzing around in confusion. Maybe not everyone knew yet, maybe people didn't know at all and I was just acting paranoid. I tried to assure myself of that, but the sinking, knowing feeling in my gut told me otherwise, and that this wasn't the last or worst I'd hear from it.

The late-bell rang and students kept filling the seats and talking animatedly between themselves while I just focused on breathing deeply. The teacher took attendance and checked homework, but just when I calmed down a bit and begun to focus some on school-work, the televised morning announcements came on.

My face blanched, and my body went into complete lock-down as a colleague of photos of me from TDI and TDA came on. Barely any one of those photos showed me in an appealing light and I started biting my manicured nails. The teens around me stopped talking as they looked on the screen and caught me, and I resisted hiding myself in a nearby closet. Then the screen changed, and the announcer came on, my luck completely taking a turn for the worst.

'Good morning students! This just in, we have just gotten news from none other than Dana Whitefield , that one of our own students is actually famous! That's right, former queen-bee Courtney Evans was on Total Drama Island, and its successor, Total Drama Action. We all know she wasn't the nicest person on the show… and well, I guess some things never change, huh?'

I almost buried my head in the desk when I heard that. Teens started laughing and shouting random comments at me before the teacher told them to settle down and continue listening to the other announcements. Dana, that bitch. Figures that little tramp found out dirt about me and kept her best little performance for her last. Whatever. I could handle this. I'd brought it on myself anyways, it was only a matter of time before people started finding out.

I raised my head up and sat straight, ignoring the prods and comments from other students. Class went by roughly, whispers heard at every corner of the room and by the time the bell rang I wasn't sure if I'd be able to make it through the rest of the day. Part of me, okay so a lot of me, wanted to call Duncan and have him come pick me up, but I knew that he was probably either busy with the twins or his business and couldn't be troubled with a little thing such as mean classmates. But God did I want to call him. Come to think of it, I just wanted to get out of this school in general, but wouldn't that be just like giving up and letting Dana know that she had won?

If there's one thing Courtney Evans doesn't do, it's accept defeat. And with that thought in mind, I straightened my posture, hardened my gaze, re-shouldered my bag, and walked to my next class with my head held high. No, I wouldn't be beaten so easily.

**oo-oo**

So making it through the day wasn't as easy as I had hoped it would be and was certainly much harder than I could have ever imagined a day at school should be. To say the least, by the time lunch rolled along I was eating alone in a bathroom stall while trying to hold back my pathetic tears. As much as I didn't want Dana to 'win', I also couldn't stand the thought to have to sit through another three periods of this horrible torture.

The people I had thought to be my friends, or at least associates, have now completely turned their backs on me and instead of sending small smiles of awareness in the halls towards me, people now send their vicious snarls of disgust as they shove against my shoulders and knock down my books. I had hoped that maybe at least I could be saved by the fact that I was on TV, but none of that seemed to matter to everyone as they continued to make my day a living nightmare.

"I'm surprised she hasn't just like, transferred schools yet." It was a nasally girl that said this and right away I recognized the harsh tone belonging to that of one of Dana's followers. There was the sound of more heels on the tile floor, a sound that made me shrink further into the bathroom stall and pray to God that they didn't notice me. While I didn't want to jump to conclusions, it wouldn't surprise me if Dana and her friends decided to jump me in this other wise deserted bathroom.

"She's just stubborn is all." I recognized that voice right away as Dana's and felt my blood run cold as my hands began to quiver. "Don't worry, we'll beat that dumb whore soon enough. Strong or not, even she can't continue to hold her head high for much longer with the way everyone hates her. I can't wait to see her crumble," Dana spat and I felt my eyes begin to burn as my throat felt swollen. In the halls, the five minute warning bell rang and there was some meaningless chatter about homework that needed to be copied for sixth period before Dana and her followers were gone and I was left in the bathroom; alone once again.

All the strength felt stolen from my body as I collapsed down onto the closed toilet lid, not even bothering to get out and throw away my garbage or attempt to compose myself so that I could still make it to class only five minutes late. Instead of doing one of those two things, I pulled my knees to my chest, wrapped my arms around my bent legs, bowed my head down so that it rested uncomfortably on my knees, and sobbed. I didn't even try to be discrete about my crying because I knew there was no way I could tone down the cries that wracked my very frame and left me shaking within the confines of my small bathroom stall.

I stayed there for the rest of the school day, only managing to compose myself enough to leave ten minutes before the end of seventh period so that no one would see my blood shot, puffy eyes, or the blood under my nails and red dying my green sweater.

**oo-oo**

I didn't want to go home which I find now to be kinda ironic since not four hours I was wishing for nothing but the security of my house and family. Now, however, is a totally different story; one in which my arms are covered in blood and I don't want my kids, but especially Duncan, to see me this way. But my options on places to go are small since all I know is my house and family; no true friends that I could call on now in my time of need and expect them to drop everything to help me. Of course, I guess it's selfish to ask of that even from a very close friend, but at this moment it's what I wanted and knew exactly where I could find it.

My mind raced for alternatives, but none came up and I let out a frustrated cry as I pounded my head against the steering wheel. I ended up hitting the horn and the sudden noise made me jump back in the driver's seat as a small scream escaped from between my pale lips. A second later I was kissing the steering wheel with many thanks as I grabbed my wallet from my purse and locked up the car, running across the street and right into the store that I never would have noticed had I not honked that damn horn.

Not 20 minutes later and I was walking out of the story, fresh sweat shirt on with my old shirt torn into strips and used as a makeshift band aid for the cuts on my wrists. Whatever shirt that was tied around my forearms was thrown away as I walked past a city garbage can on the way back to my car; smiling and feeling good about today as I started up the car and stole a peek at the clock.

Only an hour late. I could easily say that I got stuck in detention again or make up any other number of excuses like I had when still hanging out with Dana.

Dana. Just thinking her name left me feeling sick to my stomach as I clutched the steering wheel so tightly that my knuckles turned white. Today had been the worst day of my life thanks to that bitch and something told me that things weren't going to get any easier.

But I won't let her win. I thought, sucking in a deep breath through my nose as I sat up straighter in my seat. No, Dana won't get the best of me. And with that thought in mind I started up my car and headed towards home; hoping that my new found strength would hold up through Duncan's sure to be asked questions.

**oo-oo**

"You're late." It was the first thing Duncan said when I walked in the front door and I was glad he wasn't in sight yet or he would have seen my grimace.

"I got held up," I lied lamely, wanting to smack myself on the forehead afterwards when I saw the look that Duncan was giving me.

"Doing what? You weren't with Dana, were you?" The fact that he didn't trust I had left that 'life' behind hurt, but not as much as the feelings that made my very being ache as I thought about the torture that I had endured all day thanks to Dana.

"No," I said stiffly. There was a silence between us then that I used to think up a good lie. "I got caught in the halls without a pass and had to stay late for detention." Yeah, that was a good enough lie. I'd buy into it and apparently so would Duncan since he nodded and turned his attention back to whatever he was doing in the kitchen.

"Are you making dinner?"

"I thought we'd eat early because the twins look tired. They went on a field trip to the museum today so they've been running around all day and it's finally catching up with them," Duncan said with a chuckle, nodding his head towards the living room where I could see our kids sleeping on the couch together.

"They look like they're down for the night. Why don't we just put them to bed and have something besides Mac n cheese tonight?"

A smile broke out on Duncan's lips at my suggestion and lacking all care, he tossed the box of Kraft into the garbage can. "What'd you have in mind we eat instead?" I paused to think about that for a moment, trying to remember what all was in the fridge and pantries that could make for a quick meal.

"Well I know we have eggs, I think some bacon, and thanks to Alex there is always an endless supply of waffle mix in the house. What do you say, Duncan? Want some breakfast for dinner?" I know that it's a silly thing to do, but I felt like that was what our relationship needed at the moment and so did Duncan, obviously, since he smiled before kissing my lips.

"Sounds yummy," he whispered, a smirk on his lips as he kissed me once again.

"Help me put the kids in bed," I said and right away Duncan had the twins scooped up, one in each arm, as he carried them off to their room. I smiled at his retreating back for a moment before turning and heading towards the kitchen so that I could get dinner started. Duncan came in a few minutes later, kissing my neck as he hugged me from behind.

"How can I be of service?" he whispered into my ear, the feeling of his breath against my skin making a shiver run down my spine.

"Well you could start by not distracting me with your lips or I'll burn the food and then we'll have to eat Mac n cheese." The moment I said that, Duncan stepped away as if he'd been burned.

"Alright, no touching until after dinner because I refuse to eat that gruel for the third night in a row," he said, his nose wrinkling up in disgust. I couldn't help but laugh at this as I leaned forward and kissed Duncan just below his jaw line.

"Aww poor baby," I teased, smiling brightly up at him as he just glared.

"Yeah well with all the food you're making for just the two of us, we will be poor soon," Duncan pointed out and I stuck out my tongue, mixing the batter.

"Do you want dinner or not?" I asked, shooting a Duncan a look. He quickly smiled at me as his hands sot up in surrender.

"Did I mention how beautiful you look today?" I couldn't help but laugh and kiss Duncan's cheek from how cute he looked.

"Good boy," I praised him, turning away as I poured the first waffle into the maker. Soon the smell of waffles was wafting out of the maker and into the kitchen, making my stomach grumble as I realized that I hadn't eaten since lunch and even that couldn't have really been considered eating since I barely managed to keep down the little that I had eaten.

"You okay Hun?" Duncan asked, drawing me out of my thoughts as I turned my head to look at him and smile falsely.

"Never been better," I whispered before leaning forward and kissing him. It didn't take long before I found myself lost in Duncan's sweet kisses, forcing myself to pull away from his embrace when the waffle maker started beeping.

"Let it beep," Duncan murmured against my neck and I wanted to do as he said, but my stomach rumbled and I pulled away.

"Unlike you, Duncan, I can't survive off of twigs and berries and those waffles smell really good." There was a pout on my lips as I looked up at Duncan and rubbed my stomach.

"You and your stomach woman," he said, unable to stop the laugh that bubbled up from his throat.

"If you know what's best for you and your stomach, you'll stop talking now." With that, I turned away and took the golden waffles out of the maker and placed it onto a plate. As I was preparing another waffle, Duncan pulled out the syrup and whipped cream. We moved about the kitchen silently, but without tension like so many silences we've had recently.

"Pull out some wine glasses and the tall candles from the cabinets," I told Duncan as I took out the second perfect waffles and placed it onto another plate.

"Wine with waffles? Isn't that a little… gross?" The look on Duncan's face made me laugh as I brought the two plates over to the table.

"No one ever said we were having wine in them," I pointed out and it took a while, but Duncan finally caught on and smiled at me; going into the fridge and pulling out the milk.

"Beauty with a brain. Boy did I get lucky when I pulled your name out of that jar," Duncan teased me and I laughed while shooting him a look.

"And what exactly did I get out of this?" There was a pause as Duncan thought of something to say, handing me the candles so I could set them up on the clean table.

"Well I'm great in bed and together we make some cute as hell kids," he began, smiling coyly at me. "It's been a while though, since I've been able to show you my talents. Maybe we should skip dinner and get straight to dessert." I didn't miss the way Duncan arched his eyebrow or how there was a mischievous glint in his eye and sparkle in his smile.

"Have you not been hearing my stomach? It requires substance pronto," I insisted, my looking daring Duncan to challenge me which he wisely didn't. "Good boy, now sit down and enjoy this wonderful meal with me."

When Duncan finally sat down, we toasted with our wine glasses filled with milk and then I dug right into eating. I couldn't hold back the sigh of bliss that passed through my lips as my eyes rolled back in my eyes and I relaxed into my chair as the sweet syrup coaxed the waffle down my throat and to my more than awaiting stomach.

"Slow down there Court, you don't wanna hurt yourself," Duncan teased me and I stuck my tongue out at him before continuing to eat.

"Pass the whipped cream Duncan," I pretty much ordered in between bites of food. If I had been paying better attention, I would have seen the evil glint in Duncan's eyes and been able to recognize it from so many times before.

"You sure you want the whipped cream Courtney?" he asked and I looked up from my plate to shoot him a look.

"Of cour- Ahh!" I stared at Duncan in shock as he just laughed his ass off, the whipped cream can still pointed in my face. "_Duncan_!" I screamed before lunging across the table towards him. Obvious the evil man was expecting this as he easily dodged my move and jumped out of his chair, spraying more whipped cream on my head in the process. I let out another shriek as Duncan went running off, laughing like a maniac.

"Oh it's on now," I hissed to myself before throwing open the fridge and pulling out the other can of whipped cream. The house had fallen quiet and I crept across it cautiously, wincing whenever the floor made a creak due to my movement.

"Duncan if you come easily I'll let you sleep with me tonight," I offered, knowing that probably either way I'd end up sleeping with my husband tonight. It was one of our first nights 'alone' together and there was no way I was going to pass up that opportunity.

"Baby if you put up a fight I'll sleep with you tonight," Duncan called back to me and I couldn't help but smile at how classic his response was. Leave it to Duncan to be a kinky pervert.

"I surrender!" I announced and heard Duncan's groan followed by his footsteps as he came walking in my direction. Smirking, I positioned myself behind the couch so that I would be hidden from Duncan's sight and in the opportune place to strike. My plan worked out fabulously since the moment Duncan came into the room he scanned over it before sighing and plopping down on the couch.

"Where are you hiding Courtney?" he called out lazily and I readied my hand on the nozzle of the whipped cream. With a battle cry, I jumped over the couch and onto Duncan, spraying every inch of him I could with whipped cream.

"What the hell?" Duncan cried in surprise, shooting up from his seat on the couch and staring down at his body which was covered in the white cream.

"Revenge!" I yelled with a smile before spraying Duncan in the face and running out of the room as fast as I could, giggling the whole time. Right away I heard Duncan following after me and it made my heart beat harder as adrenaline pulsed through my veins and carried me through the hallways faster. But I didn't seem to be able to run fast enough because soon I could feel the vibrations of Duncan's feet and it made my breath quicken.

_Hide_, I thought and then darted into our room, closing the door behind me and turning off the lights as I dove underneath the bed. Not ten seconds later, the door opened again and I could see Duncan's bare feet and ankles before the door closed again the light from the hallway was gone.

"I know you're in here Courtney," he said, out of breath. This made me think of my own breathing and I quickly covered my mouth with my hand in an attempt to lessen the amount of noise I was making. I could hear Duncan walking around the room and then I heard him shaking his can of whipped cream, the noise making my heart beat speed up again.

"You might as well just come out and accept defeat unless of course you want to put up a fight because you know I'm fine with that as well," Duncan teased and I couldn't help but smile as my heart continued racing and I tightened my grip on my whipped cream. I wanted to shake it up again just for extra measures, but I was afraid that if I did it would make too much noise and give my position away so instead I just laid still as it got quiet.

_Duncan_? I wondered before feeling a strong grip wrap around my ankle and start tugging me out from under the bed. Out of surprise I screamed and almost dropped my weapon but at the last minute managed to get a hold back on it as I was pulled out into the open. As I sprayed Duncan's face with whipped cream, he got my stomach which has been exposed while being dragged out. We were both laughing crazily as I squirmed away from him and jumped onto the bed, spraying his head with whipped cream as I moved.

"Oh no you don't!" Duncan half yelled, half laughed, jumping onto the bed after me. I was laughing so hard now that there were tears in my eyes causing my vision to blur so that I couldn't see anything in the dark room. "You might as well just give up. I've got you pinned," Duncan pointed out and when my tears had cleared I looked up to see that he was hovering over me, his hands pinning down my wrists and knees squeezing my legs together so that I couldn't move them.

"Never," I hissed up to him before jerking my arm and somehow managing to make it so that I could shoot whipped cream up into his face once again. My victory didn't last long since Duncan quickly knocked the can out of my hand and I was left defenseless.

"Now what are you going to do? You have no weapon," he said, breathing heavily as he stared down at me.

"A woman _always_ has a weapon," I told Duncan before craning my neck up and licking the whipped cream off of his neck, my tongue running along his pulse. Right away I felt Duncan stiffen as he sucked in a shaky breath, his grip on my wrists tightening. This only fueled me on as I continued to lick up along the side of his face and towards his ear, taking the lobe into my mouth and sucking on it lightly before slowly pulling back as my teeth scrapped over the sensitive flesh.

"You're a tease," Duncan panted out, eyes lit and glazed over with lust. I found that I was panting as well as I stared up at him, my hips starting to feel restless as they rotated.

"I'm only a tease if I hold out and don't let you take me to bed," I reminded Duncan as he dipped his head and started kissing along my neck and jaw line. A delicious shiver ran down my spine and I felt a familiar warmth settle between my legs.

"We already are in bed," Duncan pointed out and I smiled up coyly at him.

"Then why haven't you taken me yet?" I breathed out before his lips smashed down against mine. The reaction was immediate was my skin broke out in goose bumps and I felt like I was floating as my head got light. I wanted wrap my arms around Duncan's neck and pull him closer, but his hands held me down. I wanted to wrap my arms around his waist and roll my hips against his own, but his knees kept my legs locked and I groaned in frustration.

"What's wrong baby?" Duncan whispered against my neck as he kissed my sensitive skin.

"Let me touch you, please," I begged, arching against his hold has he kissed at my collar bone. God the whole situation was driving me crazy and I felt so heated that my whole body ached to be closer to Duncan; a part of my dying since I couldn't be closer to him.

"Ask me again," Duncan groaned out, biting down on the skin just over my pulse as a gasp escaped my lips and I arched my back against him.

"_Please_ Duncan. God I need to feel you against me now or I think I'll go crazy," I cried, feeling actually tears begin to pool in the corner of my eyes. Duncan kissed back up my neck before claiming my lips with his in a searing kiss and releasing my arms and legs. In a second I had my legs wrapped around his waist and my hips rocking against his as my hands were latched into Duncan's neck and pulling him closer. From that moment on I can't remember much of anything as I was lost in bliss.

**oo-oo-oo**

I groaned as I rolled over, slamming my hand down on the off button of the alarm.

"Come on Courtney, time to get up," Duncan told me, kissing my forehead before leaving the room. I groaned once again before sitting up in bed and rubbing my eyes. It didn't help at all and as I got up and made my way to the bathroom to shower, more groans escaped my mouth.

"Oh God," I gasped, catching my reflection in the bathroom mirror and wincing at what I saw. My hair was all hard and sticky from the whipped cream and thanks to the sex it was also tangled and sticking out in odd angles. Speaking of the sex, there were hickeys along my neck that made me cringe as I took in their dark color. There were some on my collarbone and after seeing that I decided that today would be a wonderful day to wear a turtle neck.

My shower was especially long since I was sore and couldn't move that quickly and it took three washes of shampoo to get the whipped cream out of my hair. By the time I finally got out I was cursing Duncan to the high heavens for everything I could think of and on top of that I was in a horrible mood and running late. Because I was running late, I didn't have time to do my hair since I decided my makeup was more important to cover up the bags under my eyes and instead just ended up brushing it and throwing it up in a messy bun that annoyed me beyond all belief. After having to deal with my crappy make up and hair, I honestly didn't care much for how I looked today and just pulled on a pair of black yoga pants, a turtle neck sweater that would cover up my hickies, and some comfortable slip on shoes.

It's safe to say that as I made my way down stairs for what I assumed would be another breakfast of cheerios, I avoided all mirrors like they were the plague.

"You have to keep real quiet though or else you won't be able to hear, alright?" It was Duncan that I heard as I made my way towards the kitchen, slowing to a stop when I caught sight of him and Devon sitting next to each other at the kitchen table. Alex wasn't around, probably in the bathroom still brushing her hair, and it was completely silent as Duncan poured the milk into Devon's bowl of cereal. More silence followed before I heard the faint crackling noise and took in a breath before covering my hand with a mouth so that I wouldn't make any noise, afraid to ruin the magic of the moment.

Devon was still as he stared at the bowl with wide eyes, as if it were the most amazing thing he had ever seen. Then, so quickly I actually winced, he snapped his neck to the side to stare at his father in absolute amazement and admiration because he was the one that had created that magic. No words were spoken as Duncan and Devon shared this moment that would otherwise be considered insignificant to someone else, but meant the world to Devon and I'm pretty sure it meant a lot to Duncan too as I watched his eyes changed, soften even, while watching his son. There was a pause as Devon stared at his father before reaching over in his chair over to Duncan and kissing his cheek softly. I felt my knees go weak as I watched this and I saw the moisture begin to gather in Duncan's eyes as he stared down at his son with so much love in his eyes.

"You better eat those before you're late for school," Duncan finally said, his voice coming out hoarse and I felt myself getting choked up as I watched the scene before me. I felt like an intruder suddenly, like I had no right to be there, but at the same time I dared not move and take my eyes away from the beauty in front of me.

"But then the magic will stop," Devon whispered, keeping his voice low so that the noises of the popping cereal wouldn't be covered up.

"If you eat it then the cereal and all it's magic will be inside of you and that will help you grow up big and strong so that one day you can make magic for someone you love," Duncan told Devon and right away the small boy started shoveling the cereal into his mouth.

"Then I'm going to eat all I can," Devon said between spoonfuls, "so that one day I can make magic for you Daddy because I love you," he finished with a smile, bits of cereal showing through in his grin.

"I'd like that," was all Duncan could manage to say before he kissed his son's head and turned towards the stove. At this moment Alex came bounding down the stairs and I quickly whipped away the tears that had escaped, putting on a smile as she came into view.

"Hi mommy!" she said with a smile on her gorgeous face. I couldn't help but scoop her into my arms and cuddle her close; she was becoming to be the most adorable little girl I'd ever had the pleasure to know. Especially the way she loved to act ten years above her actual age.

"Good morning sweetie," I cooed, giving her a kiss on the cheek which made her giggle. "Have you eaten breakfast yet?" I asked, continuing to walk into the kitchen. Duncan turned to look at me as we entered and I sent him a smile. If he ever asked why I looked at him with so much love that morning, I would tell him it was because of the night before. What just happened between him and Devon was their moment and I felt it deserved to stay that way.

"Yup," she trilled in her high soprano baby voice. "I got up early and ate it so that I don't have to worry about being late for school," she spoke, smiling and proud of herself for being so responsible. Why she would get up willingly before eight-o'-clock in the morning just to make herself breakfast was beyond me, but I was proud of her nonetheless.

"She sure made a hell of a mess while doing it," Duncan muttered, nodding his head to the half-eaten mess of cereal on the kitchen table before coming forward and taking Alex into his own arms and giving her a kiss on the head. I giggled, seeing some of her father's genes beginning to bloom in the young girl.

"You really should clean that up, Duncan," I pointed out, giggling again at his disgruntled appearance.

"Why do I have to do it? I already got the kids ready for school, the least you could do is--"

"Good morning Devon! How's my little man today?" I squealed, crouching down next to the table and leaning forward to give him a kiss on the cheek. I heard Duncan mutter things that were much too inappropriate for the children to hear, both verbally and with sexual intentions, while putting down Alex and beginning to scrub the dishes. I turned a deep red, barely hearing Devon tell me about how 'magical' his rice-crispies were.

"Mommy will you do my pigtails? Daddy don't do them right," she complained while pulling on my sleeve as I chuckled and told her to get the hairbrush.

"I did too do them right, all the girls in this house do nothing but complain and make the men do all the work, isn't that right Devon?" Wanting to side along with his father and of course not understanding the meaning of the sentence, he strongly agreed, earning praise from Duncan.

"You did not do them right, Duncan. They were all lopsided and tangled."

"Well excuse me for not knowing the proper structure of pigtails. I'm a man, Princess, which I'm pretty sure you still remember," I had blushed pink here. "And I'm still learning the hair art of little girls," he continued, scrubbing the half-dried cheerios off the bowl he was washing meticulously.

"Well, no one said you were perfect, Duncan." He didn't have time to respond as Alex came running back into the room, hairbrush in hand and her hair down and loose. I sat her on my lap and brushed all of the tangles out of her hair, then formed them into two identical high pigtails; her new favorite adopted hairstyle. She squealed in delight and thanked me profusely, babbling incoherently. I laughed and patted her head in response.

"Mommy I fixed my backpack all by myself! I think I'm all ready for school!"

"Good girl, but did you brush your teeth?" I asked and there was silence before she left the kitchen, saying she'd be right back. I couldn't help but laugh at how adorable she was, rubbing Devon's head as he went rushing past me and after his sister. I could vaguely hear them arguing about what sounded like toothpaste, but I tuned it out, shaking my head.

"Isn't she turning into a responsible young woman," I said as I walked over to Duncan. Getting him from behind, I wrapped my arms around his middle and kissed the side of his face.

"I think the last thing this house needs is another woman. It already gets enough abuse what with all the whipped cream fights," Duncan teased and I pulled back with a gasp.

"Don't you dare try and peg that one on me. That was all you," I defended, crossing my arms over my chest as I stared him down and dared him to challenge me. Duncan only laughed at me before kissing my lips and returning his attention to the dirty dishes.

"Do you want to help me out with these?" he asked, breaking the short silence that had erupted between us. I winced at the number of dishes--including the filthy waffle-maker from the previous night--in the sink and sighed.

"I think I'll go start my homework," I said, ducking away from Duncan as he began to protest.

"Thank you Courtney," he said to me sarcastically as I retreated to the kitchen table to start my work. Barely focusing on the blur of math, english, and science, I was entirely aware when the kids came sprinting down the stairs, pushing each other and nearly falling face-first on the floor.

"Ha! I win!"

"No you don't! You cheated!"

"Liar!"

"Hey," both Duncan and I simultaneously cut in, heading to the twins and pulling them apart.

"What's going on?" Duncan asked, keeping Alex from pulling her brother's hair out. I had a hard time myself from keeping Devon from hitting his sister back, but kept a strong hold on his arms.

"Me and Alex raced, and she says I cheated!"

"You did cheat!"

"Hey!" I cut in again at their arguing. "I thought Daddy and I both said that there was to be no more stair racing? It's dangerous. Now apologize, or else you'll both be punished." Duncan and I both released our holds and the twins sullenly apologized to each other. A large honk was heard from the outside as the twins ran to grab their backpacks and then tell us goodbye. We walked them outside and watched as the carpool took the twins to preschool, then walked back inside.

"It's too early for twins in the morning."

"Agreed." I went back to my homework while Duncan began to cook our breakfast, time passing by in silence.

"Can you pull out two plates, forks, and knives?" he asked of me, breaking the short silence. While I did what he asked, deciding that I couldn't focus on my homework anymore, I couldn't help but wonder about the knife part.

"What exactly are you making? It smells wonderful," I hummed, sitting back down at the set table and taking in a deep breath of the herbs and wonderful grilling smell that filled the kitchen.

"I thought that I'd treat you to some breakfast," Duncan said with a shrug before a giant steak was placed onto the plate I sat in front of.

"Steak?" I couldn't keep my eyebrow from lifting as I stared down at the hunk of delicious looking meat on my plate; my other eyebrow lifting as well as Duncan placed a red plastic cup by my plate and poured wine into it.

"I thought it was only fitting since last night we had breakfast for dinner. You don't mind, do you? Because I could make you something else if you want," Duncan quickly offered and my insides melted as I smiled softly at him.

"No, this is all wonderful," I assured him before beginning to dig into my food ravenously. I began to wonder when the last time I'd eaten a steak cooked as well as this, when I felt a pulling sensation at the back of my head. I was about to turn around and ask what was going on when I felt my hair fall around me, covering my shoulders and back. The elastic that had moments ago held my hair in the ridiculous bun was now placed next to my plate. I turned to see Duncan grinning mischievously, putting his plate down next to me and taking a seat. When I continued to glare at him questioningly, he raised his eyebrows.

"What? Don't tell me you thought that bun was actually attractive? You looked like my nanna with it." I snorted, shaking my head. Duncan would always be Duncan.

"Don't be all cocky sitting there thinking you look attractive yourself," I remarked, giggling at Duncan's post sex/whipped cream fight soaked appearance.

"Whatever. At least I'm not going out."

"Still, you should go shower, you reek."

"Ha. Ha. And miss all this time with you?" I leaned forward and kissed him sweetly, enjoying the sarcastic remark probably more than I should have. After that we fell into a comfortable silence while eating our steak before eight in the morning, all my worries for the day to come slipping away as I passed the time with Duncan.


	19. Revenge Takes its Rightful Place

**It's shorter than usual, but here you go :))))))))**

**Oh, IMPORTANT NOTICEEEE! On the website www(dot)thereadershavechosen(dot)eternflame(dot)com, Prinzessin AND Kids are a Joy have been nominated as best stories! I NEED YOUR HELP SO THEY CAN WINNN! what you have to do, is go to this page http://thereadershavechosen(dot)eternflame(dot)com/forum/index(dot)php, then on the left hand side you should see a button that says login/register. REGISTER FIRST! once you register, it will take you to the home page. Click on monthly reccomandations. then scroll down and go to misc fandoms. THEN VOTEEE! I NEED UR HELP!**

Holding the tape in my mouth, I successfully climbed the chair and managed to plaster the last rather unattractive poster on the wall. Jumping down and stepping back to examine my work, I grinned in pride. Thank god Claire and Amber had dared me to steal some of Dana's rather unappealing photos from her personal shelf. Now I had my revenge on her, and it was damn perfect.

I took a deep breath--which turned into a large yawn. I had to get up early in order to tape the blown-up photos around the whole school; but I knew it was beyond worth it. To see her face on shock would be reward enough. What could possibly go wrong? I walked through the hallways proudly, finally feeling at peace within their confines. Hopefully, things would be well now; I could focus on my studies, pass exams with flying colors, and graduate with my husband and kids proud of me. Maybe I could even get a decent job myself to support the family.

I headed to the car so I could make a quick run to starbucks; I needed some caffeine otherwise I'd be nodding off during first period. Taking my time in ordering a large Americano along with a blueberry muffin--I thought I deserved something sweet to celebrate, and I'd been craving it all day--I relished the peace and tranquility of the now-filling coffee shop. I spent the rest of my time checking over my english essay and gobbling the sugar-filled pastry, then grabbing my coffee and heading to drive back to school. Nobody was outside hanging out like usual; it was nice weather too. I smirked, knowing that it was a good sign.

Heading inside the cluttered student commons--where I'd placed most of the posters--bushels of students were crowded around the unattractive pictures while I grinned in satisfaction.

"What the _hell_ is going on here?" A loud, nasal voice shrieked. I didn't even have to turn to know that it was the grand bitch herself. Turning to face her, I couldn't help but giggle at her enraged expression. Once the students had caught sight of her, they began to gossip and laugh, not even bothering to cover it up. Dana's face turned pale while catching a zit-faced picture of herself from the sixth grade.

"Who did this? _Who the hell did this_?" She screamed, her pale face now turning red in embarrassment. Nobody bothered to answer her, as nobody really knew. Everybody kept laughing and pointing, pointing out the zits, crooked nose, braces, and the bad haircuts that the photos proudly retained.

I couldn't help myself but to walk towards the trash can, oh so subtly passing by Dana and muttering a "whoops, my bad. Guess I'm not the only one with secrets, huh?' before walking away, grinning.

Little did I know, I'd dug my own grave.

**o 0 O 0 o**

Courtney had been quiet all day; in the morning she'd been quite silent as she made breakfast for the kids and kissed me goodbye, and when she came home--late again, due to detention, or so she'd told me--she'd barely spoken a word. I was determined to find out what was up. Currently, she was squinting laboriously over her homework on the kitchen table, ignoring all distractions.

"You know, if you keep squinting like that, you'll have to get glasses. Not to mention the wrinkles," I remarked as she kept her eyes on her homework, releasing her squint a bit, but not even giving me a single glance.

"And if you keep slouching like that, you're going to get back pains when you get older. Not to mention the possibility of getting a hump back," she replied--almost exactly as I had--tartly, yet tiredly, still not taking her eyes off her homework.

"How do you know? You haven't even looked at me." This brought a slight smile on her lips.

"I don't have to look to know." She was right, not that I would ever admit it to her. I straightened out my back--only to please her--and leaned over her concentrating figure. I squinted at the tiny, complicated math problems and gave up at even trying to figure them out.

"What're you working on so hard that you can't even give me a glance?" At this she turned her head around and stood, pulling me close and wrapping her arms around my waist.

"Calculus problems. It's harder than it looks, sorry if you felt I was ignoring you." She gave me a peck on the lips which brought my mind back to the wonderful night we had shared only two days ago. I shook my head when such thoughts came to mind; the kids were awake and running around, and I needed to be on full alert.

Speaking of the kids, Devon came running to both of us, a drawing of what looked like scribbles in his arms. Lifting him up in my arms, I made the small boy giggle, tickling his tiny stomach.

"Whatcha got there buddy?" I asked, putting the small child down.

"Picture! I made a picture for you and Mommy!" Laughing, I ruffled his hair, taking the picture from his hands and sticking it up on the fridge with a magnet.

"It's beautiful," Courtney complimented, her eyes unfocused and back on her homework. Frowning, I encouraged our son to go draw another one so I could take it to my office and hang it there. Excitedly, he ran off, his small feet pattering across the wood floor. Turning back to my wife, I snatched the homework from under her nose and held it up as if it were a prize. She merely sighed and stood, hands tiredly sitting on her hips.

"Give it back Duncan, I'm going to fail the class if I don't do the homework." I shook my head no, putting it on top of the tall cabinets; a place where she could only reach if she stood on a chair. I saw her debate whether or not to do the option, but she gave up and went to the fridge, pulling out a bottled water and sipping it greedily.

"Hey, what's up. You seem depressed," I inquired, wondering what was up with her bizarre mood. I hugged her waist from behind, tantalizing her small stomach with my cold hands. I felt her shiver, but resist and try to pull away, much to my annoyance. Turning her to face me, I stared down into her drained onyx orbs, resting a hand on her flushed cheek.

"C'mon. I just totally stole your homework; aren't you going to punish me?" I asked suggestively, raising my eyebrows. When catching her annoyed glare, I quickly changed what I was asking. "Alright, well aren't you going to get your homework back?"

"Can't you get it for me?"

"Why can't you get it yourself?"

"I...I just can't." This sparked some interest in me. Why couldn't she? Was something wrong?

"What's up with you? You've been down and moody all day; are you sick? Did something happen at school?" She sighed, wrapping her arms around my neck again and burying her head in my chest, inhaling deeply.

"No, I'm just tired. I've had a long day, you know?" I snorted, yeah I knew. What with watching the kids all day while trying to work simultaneously; it was no easy feat.

"You sound like you need some fun."

"No way. I need sleep, not fun." I clucked my tongue at her and shook my head.

"Wrong answer, Princess." Without warning, I lifted her and turned her upside down, making her laugh and shriek my name. "You, Princess, have been a very bad girl. Someone needs to be punished."

"No," she giggled. "Duncan don't!" I ignored her pleas and began to tickle her, much like I had Devon. She flailed around wildly, laughing and giggling like a maniac. She pleaded for me to stop, but I ignored her yet again.

"Duncan, my hair!" she cried out when the elastic had slid out due to all the shaking she'd been doing. I shrugged, unable to understand why she'd tied it up in the first place. What was the point in her growing her hair out, if she wasn't going to wear it down and let it show?

"So? It looks better down anyways."

"It's not practical!"

"But it's beautiful." Her face flushed; due to the compliment, or from being upside down too long, I couldn't tell. Satisfied from her laughter, I flipped her right side up and put her down, much to her content. She straightened out her top and ran a hand through her disheveled hair. I thought for a moment she was going to yell at me; but she then surprised me by coming forward and giving me a short peck on the lips.

"Thanks." I chuckled, ruffling her hair and kissing her again.

"Anytime, Princess, anytime." Walking back to the fridge to take another view of Devon's picture, I came across the calendar on the fridge, a particular girly scribble catching my eye.

"Sweetheart, did you make a doctors appointment for tomorrow?" She flushed for a moment before going to her backpack and grabbing another sheet of homework.

"Yeah," the answer came quickly, too quickly.

"What for?"

"I was worried about the bug that's been going around school, because I'd been starting to think I've been getting some of the symptoms. No biggie." This time she took her time before answering, and her voice was hesitant. But it was just a doctors appointment; and unless she had cancer--which she would definitely tell me if she thought she had--or something, then she would tell me about it, no doubt.

"Alright, Babe."

**o 0 O 0 o**

Walking into the school, I was used to the annoying prods, pokes, and sexual harassment I received. Only this time they were new. Dana's new form of revenge? Telling everyone I had kids; boy, had they taken that news well. It was worse than last week.

"Uhuh, yeah we should totally hang out sometime," I responded to the nerdy girl's question. I almost snorted at the thought. Just because I'd let her do my homework, she thought she had the right to come up and hang out with us. Though it would be fun to give her a complete makeover, take her clubbing, then watch her go completely out of control like we did Courtney. Good times, I remembered with a smile. The nerdy girl looked ecstatic, and walked away, waving back frantically to us. I waved back with a small smile on my face, only for the smile to turn into a disgusted scowl once the girl turned her back.

"Ugh," I groaned to my friends, snapping my fingers. Within two seconds, one of them handed me an Evian bottle from my convertible. I sipped the expensive water while running a hand through my hair tiredly.

"I know, right! That girl was totally off her rocker if she thought she could hang with us. Too clingy," Claire judged in her whiny, childish voice. I nodded my head in agreement and swallowed.

"It's not even worth messing with her," I concluded, leaning against the hood of my silver convertible. Matt came and put his arms around my waist, and I moved so he could sit on the hood of my car, only to put myself on his lap--and sitting my ass exactly where it would pleasure him most--moments later.

"Take an ecstasy pill why don't you; just chill baby girl." I smiled and leaned back further, wrapping my arms around Matt's neck. He leaned his mouth towards mine and I complied, starting a full out make-out session right in front of the school grounds. His hands had begun to fiddle with the end of my shirt, and I stuck my tongue inside his mouth. A loud, not so subtle cough made us pull apart, and I glared at a sheepish-looking Claire for making us pull apart.

"Baby mama staring at three-o'-clock," she explained with a nod of her head toward the offender. I smirked at our former companion, hands on my hips.

"Hey, quit staring bee-yotch. If you want some loving, go home to your baby daddy," I declared with a smirk, turning back around to face a snickering Claire and Matt.

"And that's how you tell a ho to back off," I said proudly with a flick of my hair. Claire began to giggle but her face turned to a look of sheepishness. I was about to question her antics when all of a sudden someone yanked my long hair from behind, making me yell in pain.

"What the hell!" I screamed, when I turned to face my offender. There she stood, hands on her jealousy-worthy hips, the queen bitch herself.

"Listen, I don't know what the hell your problem is, but you need to lay off." I blew her off with a wave of my hand, turning back to my friends. She pulled me back around roughly, and I smacked her and off my shoulder.

"What the hell is _your_ problem, Baby Mama. Coming to a high school, and associating with teenagers, all when you yourself are twenty-one. How pathetic is that?" I spat in her face. Only this time, she didn't back down, or run away crying, or do anything of that sort as I'd expected. This time, she growled and stepped closer. And I'll admit, that for one second, I was scared.

"I am fucking sick, and tired of you and your stupid clones trying to ruin my life. Have you ever stopped and thought about what your stupid pranks and rumors might have effected me?" Blah. blah, blah. It's all about her. I picked at my nails, gazing at them halfheartedly. Damn I needed another manicure; maybe I could get Claire to call in Lindsay from California...

"It's not all about you," I replied, looking only at my nails.

"But it's not about you either. You can spread all the rumors about me being a teen mom and whatever, but what does that say about you?" I rolled my eyes; if she was thinking that she was gonna get an apology out of me, she was so wrong.

"Listen, if you want me to say 'sorry', you better keep walking. I don't owe you anything, because I didn't do anything wrong," I spoke haughtily, tired of the conversation going on already.

"I don't care if you want to apologize or not, I just want you to lay off." I snorted; as if. She was just way too much fun to mess with.

"Well, the damage has already been done. Too late."

"You're a bitch." Though I'd heard the phrase many, many times before, it was nothing compared to the way she'd said it to me. There was so much venom, hate, and bitter animosity that if there wasn't a whole population of people around me, I would have attacked her to the ground by now. But no, I had to live up to my title and be the sneaky little bitch she thought I was.

"Well at least I have a life, Baby Mama. At least I have friends, besides, of course, your baby daddy and children." She snorted, and I didn't understand the humor. Despite being a blonde--and an unnatural one at that--I was never to be called that derogatory term, 'dumb blonde'. I simply did not understand what she still had to be laughing about.

"You call that a life? I call that a cry for attention, and maybe some mental help." I growled, about to lose my temper at this whiny bitch any moment. Her nasal voice was so annoying, I wanted to throttle her until she could manage something more human-like. No, I chastised myself. I wasn't going to lose my temper at her. I just needed to figure out a way to make her crack.

I thought back to a way I could break her, way back to all those nights out and the sleepover parties we had shared. Holding back a shiver that I had allowed her to sleep in the same breathing space as me, I recalled a certain evening when everyone was fussing about how long and pretty they thought her chocolate-colored hair was. I had been secretly fuming in the corner, as previously I had the best hair in the group, let alone the whole school. She'd been embarrassed about it, saying that she needed to go cut it; it had been getting too much attention. That was where I stepped in--of course, I would have loved to see her get that long mane chopped off and then see how much attention she got from everyone--as she was my friend at the time. I told her to get the blonde highlights and to get the ends trimmed. I'd been the one to convince her that attention was good, not bad or embarrassing.

But now there was nothing stopping me. How would I do it? I could form a long complicated plan, when I noticed what simple item was in my pocket. Smirking, I popped the gum into my mouth, thanking Amber for giving me the fruity-flavored snack.

"Whatever. Nobody cares what you think, only what I do. Good luck with your life." I turned, Matt at my hip, and began to walk away when she grabbed my hand. I screamed at her to get her filthy paw off of me when I caught the almost-guilty expression on her face.

"Dana, can't we at least make amends?" Perfect. Get her trust, then crush it with one final blow.

"Well, aren't you going to say sorry to me first?" I said snarkily, tapping my stiletto against the hard concrete. I saw her turn the deepest shade of red, as if she was going to explode. Oh, yeah, I was going to make her work for it. I didn't need an apology at all, just wanted to milk the pleasure while I could.

"Yes," she bit out, almost forcing the words to come out of her mouth. "I'm very sorry for acting the way I did," she nearly spit out while pushing her hair back from her face. Nearly breaking out into a grimace at the sight of her extremely jealousy-worthy hair, I managed to keep my composure and smile.

"That's more like it. You're forgiven. Hug?" I offered, extending my arms out as if we could be friends again. As if. She nodded suspiciously, stepping forward and hugging me awkwardly. While we were hugging, I managed to sneakily spit the gum out of my mouth and into her hair. Pulling back, I smiled warmly.

"I don't know what we were fighting about in the first place," I remarked, sounding like a dumb blonde, or Claire. "Oh, wait, Courtney don't move. You have something in your hair. No worries I'll get it out." I stepped forward again and lodged the gum into place, making sure it wouldn't come out easily, much less at all. I heard some of my girls snicker, and I pulled away. Pulling my bag over my shoulder, I sniffed and turned away.

"Sorry to make up and leave, Courtney, but I have plans to attend. Ta, ta Darling," I crooned, blowing a kiss to her suspicious face before getting into my convertible along with my friends. As I drove away, I caught her trying to push her hair back again, and once noticing to gum I'd lodged in there, scream.

I smirked. Karma was a bitch.


	20. It's About Time Things Got Fixed

**Hey guys, sorry for the teeny bit of the delay, heheheh. My beta just got the chapter back to me late last night, and I can't wait for you guys to see it! Seriously, this has been in my word documents for months, begging to be finished. If you guys just KNEW how hard my Beta and I have worked on this...jeesh! Hahaha, credit and mucho kudos goes to my betta Kattie, BecauseloveisWAYoverrated! Seriously, I don't know where I'd be without her. **

**Okay, there are two serious people I need to mention in this chapter. One; Theaterofthemind. Two; SKetchdiva.**

**Without Theaterofthemind, these past few chapters wouldn't have been as awesome as they are. Especially this one. I love ya, so so so much, and many, many thanks!**

**Second, SKetchdiva. Where to begin...where to begin...Well first...HAPPY BIRTHDAY! As this is a birthday present to her; part one of two! Ahhhh, she's been a great source of help and inspiration. Seriously. Gaaahhh she's so amazing. She needs to work on multitasking and managing her time and work better, but she's amazing nonetheless. Go check out her art if u haven't yet, it's seriously amazing. I love you girl, hope u love this chapter.**

**Other mentions for love and pure goodness goes to ProfessorMads, Maca, Can't be Expected, fulltimereviewer, and many, many, many more. Where would I be without you? *shakes her head and sighs* Anyways, enjoy!**

**P.S. Claire in the highschool IS Lindsay's sister...or cousin. Hahahah I 4get. But they are related. Also, this Claire is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from the one that Duncan 'cheated' on COurtney with. Also, Heather and Dana are NOT related. Though they may seem to be...hmmm...anyways, felt that needed to be mentioned...**

**Enjoy!**

**Review!**

**...Plz?**

I was completely and utterly frustrated with myself. How could I let myself fall into her trap? Haphazardly driving my car, I blinked back tears as I once again fingered the hateful, sticky, repulsive snack lodged in my hair. Great, just when things were going so well. What would I tell Duncan? He would go ballistic if I told him the truth, not to mention the fact of how distraught I was about it myself. Over two years of growing my hair out, and it all came down to this. I didn't want to cut it, but it seemed like the only option.

Pulling into the driveway, I turned off the ignition and got out of the car, slamming the door quite hard on the way out. How on earth was I going to get past Duncan and the kids without telling them what had happened to my hair? One step at a time, I figured. Taking a deep breath, I pulled at the handle on the door, but surprisingly it was locked. That was odd; Duncan always left the door unlocked for me. I pulled out my keys and unlocked the door, nobody greeting me when I called out for them. Raising my eyebrows, I deposited my bag on the dining room table only to notice a bright pick sticky note against the mahogany wood.

Hey Babe,

Decided to pick up the kids from preschool and take them to the park since it was a nice day and I promised them yesterday. Don't miss me too much; we'll be back before it gets dark.

Love, D

P.s. I'll take the kids for McDonald's or something. I'll bring you back something.

I seethed for a few moments. He couldn't have waited until I got home so we could go out as a family?

No, of course not; he is the full time father while I'm only the part time mother. The thought brought stray tears to my eyes as I thought of what was to come; I couldn't be only a part time mother now, I just couldn't. Then common sense came to mind and I deliberately kissed the sticky note, thanking my blessings that I had the house to myself. Now I could take care of this sticky situation on my own without resulting to drastic measures.

Going to the cupboard, I tried to rack my mind of all solutions to get rid of the gum. Hastily I grabbed the peanut butter and some ice cubes, two options to try and get rid of the nasty disaster. If I managed to get out of this situation unscathed, never would I chew gum again.

Darting to the bathroom and locking the door-lest Duncan and the kids came home unexpectedly-I turned around and surveyed the damage to my hair. Groaning, I realized that it was lodged way in the back of my hair, and quite high up. Fantastic. If I had to end up with a haircut, it would be quite a short one. Hell would freeze over before I let that happen, though. No way was I going to lose my long locks over something as stupid as gum.

I rubbed a far from generous amount of peanut butter over the huge, dried glob of gum before trying to comb through it feverishly. When I tried pulling the sticky snack from its hold in my locks, it failed enormously. I repeated the process four or five times, determined that eventually I would have a different outcome, only to end up with the same result. Now, in addition to the repulsive gum, I had about three cups worth of peanut butter smudged in my hair. Great, now what was I supposed to? With a sinking feeling I realized that the only logical thing left to do would be to make an appointment with the hairdressers and get it cut out. Taking a shaky breath, I reached in my pocket to get my cell phone, and dialed the number of the salon.

Maybe they would know what to do about this. Maybe they had a better solution besides maiming my crowning glory. I'm sure that they'd dealt with many different situations like this and would certainly have a solution for me. This thought brought a stray smile to my face as I talked to the receptionist and made an appointment for later today. Though maybe not the best idea, I decided to wash my hair to get rid of the peanut butter in it. It couldn't hurt, right? Besides, I didn't want to show up to the salon looking like a complete five-year-old.

I turned the faucet on and scrubbed the peanut butter meticulously out of my hair, which proved a task much harder than it seemed to be. The damned paste was even harder to get out than the gum, even though this particular snack did come out after at least ten washes. A knock on the door startled me and my soaked head flew up and hit the faucet. I groaned and responded glumly, mind not functioning properly at all.

"Court? Babe, are you alright? We're home." I groaned again. Oh no. I hadn't realized how much time I'd spent in the bathroom before Duncan and the kids were supposed to arrive.

"Just a sec!" Groaning at my appearance and not bothering to brush my hair (why get gum stuck in that too?) I threw my hair in a sloppy bun (something I should've known that Duncan would make fun of and investigate) and opened the door to face my husband. He eyed my wet clothes and sopping hair suspiciously, about to inquire. I turned away and walked to our room before he could though.

"How was the park?" I asked, hoping to distract him from asking me about my appearance.

"Fine," he replied, close on my tail. I heard Duncan come into our closet behind me and I turned on him, eyes blazing with anger; in no mood for one of his perverted jokes. This was no time for that sort of nonsense; I was faced with a super bad hair day-that was an understatement-, I was starving, I wanted sleep, and I didn't want to talk to anyone.

"Get out of the closet, Duncan," I growled, sorting through my stacks of neatly folded clothes and throwing them into one gigantic pile. I didn't care. I'd convince Duncan to fold them back into place later.

"What's up Babe? Normally you wouldn't have a problem with me in here while you change. You seem testy, and what's up with your hair?" he asked in a wild jumble of questions that I didn't have the heart to answer.

"Don't touch my hair, and step out of the closet."

"Babe, are you on your rag?" The question caught me completely off guard. It was a question I hadn't heard in weeks, and desperately wanted to have heard within the last few. It was too late for that, and that single question enraged me now more than ever.

"What? Get out, get out, GET OUT!" I screamed, beyond livid with my husband. Said man backed out of the closet as if it were on fire and I pushed back my grown-out side bangs out of my face and inhaled deeply. What was up with me? Why was I so mad? Besides the obvious, I didn't understand why I was so enraged.

"Jesus Courtney, what's up with you? What's wrong? You were fine this morning!" Duncan accused while I picked out a decent shirt and threw it over my head. I winced when the fabric stung the cuts on my arms and pulled it over my torso.

"How come you couldn't wait for me this afternoon? Why did you have to take the kids on your own? Don't you think that I would want to spend some time with them?" I asked, not really knowing why I did. Was that the reason why I was so angry?

"Is that what this is all about? Sorry, Babe, I just promised them yesterday. I didn't think that you would want to go."

"Of course I wanted to go!" I yelled, having already put on another shirt and jeans and walked out of the closet. "I don't get to spend any time with the kids as it is, and now you just ruined another chance to get some quality time!"

"Me? Babe you spend time with them, and I really don't understand how it's my fault."

"Because you won't let me quit school! If you would let me quit, you could go to work, we could stop living off your parents, I could spend time with my kids, and we would all be a normal, happy family!" Breathing hard, I was satisfied I got part of what was on my mind off of my chest.

"What are you talking about Courtney? You'll graduate within a couple of months and then I can start working, my parents honestly don't mind, and we are a happy family."

"By who's definition?" I asked bitterly. The room started to feel too small then and like there was no air in it so I quickly left it, grabbed my bag off of the dining room table and headed for the front door. A strong hand grasped my wrist and I turned to face Duncan.

"By my definition," Duncan said, his eyes set and determined. I tried to pull away, unable to be around him because I was afraid that I'd break down any second. Duncan held on though and his face softened as he spoke to me again. "Courtney, I'm thrilled with our family, and I wouldn't change a single thing about it."

"Well get ready, because something major is about to change. Something that your parents won't have the money to support, because I don't want them to." And with that said I walked out the door and straight to my car, opening the door.

"Where are you going?" my worried husband called after me. I shook my head, not having enough heart to tell him the full truth.

"I need to blow off steam, and I have errands to run. I'll be back in a couple of hours, don't wait up." I watched him nod as I drove away.

Fan-freaking-tastic. Now I was feeling even worse than before.

Maybe the salon will give massages too. I thought with a grimace, rolling my shoulders and feeling how tight my muscles were from all the stress that's been piling up on me. I took a deep breath while trying to relax the grip I had on the steering wheel of the car, my fingers cracking with tension. I wanted to lean my head back against my chair, but then I remembered the gum in my hair and knew that putting any unnecessary pressure on it would only make it stick to more of my hair and make more of a mess so instead I was forced to sit up-right and rigid.

This salon better be freakin' fantastic. I thought, scowling as I pulled up into a parking spot and turned off the car. The door slammed behind me as I got out of the car and walked up to the salon which was otherwise empty, something I was glad to see. The last thing I wanted to do was deal with a bunch of people who could see me with gum stuck in my hair and laugh at me. If someone did that to me right now I honestly don't think I'd have the restraint to stop myself from either swearing at them or lashing out and actually hitting them.

"Hi, I have an appointment," I said, walking up to the receptionist.

"Name?" she asked.

"Courtney Evans," I told her and she looked through her books quickly before pointing me over to a woman on her cell phone towards the back of the salon.

"She can help you," the receptionist said before I walked towards the woman.

"I have to go now cuz, I've got a client," the hairdresser said, motioning for me to sit down. She came behind me and took the hair band out of my hair, seeing the gum and letting out a low hiss almost as if in pain for me too.

Yeah, thanks a lot for making me feel better about it. I thought bitterly, crossing my arms with a huff as the woman inspected my hair and continued talking on her cell phone.

"Yeah, she's got gum in her hair. It looks pretty bad," she said and I gasped, realizing that the hair dresser was talking to someone about me.

Bitch! You will be receiving no tip from me! I thought angrily, shooting the woman a glare through the mirror. At that moment, she chose to look at me and I quickly looked down at my feet, worried that she had caught me giving her evil eye. If she did, she didn't do anything about it but instead just muttered some 'yeahs' and 'yup' into the phone. There was a pause before she was furiously shaking her head and saying 'no' over and over again, moving around me and towards her work station to get out what I'm assuming she'd need to fix my hair. Amongst the things I saw her pull out was a pair of scissors and I felt my stomach drop.

The hairdresser came back around me and hissed something into the phone about her job, her eyebrows furrowed together. There was more silence as I began to get impatient before the hairdresser finally sighed and nodded. "Fine, whatever. You owe me big time. I'll call you when I'm done." And with that she hung up her phone. "So uh, how'd it happen?" she asked me, grimacing as she inspected my hair once again.

"A cow of a girl stuck gum in my hair," I bit out, glaring down at my feet. As if the situation wasn't embarrassing enough; I could feel my cheeks flushing as the hairdresser continued to scan me over.

"I'm gonna try to get it out with some conditioner but it looks pretty stuck in there so I'm probably going to have to cut it. Is there a style that you want?" she asked me and I sighed tiredly. Please let it work, I begged silently, not wanting to end up with a terrible cut that would make me look twenty years older than I was. The image of my mother with her close-cropped hair-that made her look like she was in her late middle ages when she was really in her very early forties-came to mind and I shivered, please God, don't let it end up like that.

"If you could, keep it as long as possible and do something with my bangs. I can't stand them," I told her and the woman nodded before getting to work. Half an hour she operated on my hair with the conditioner, but to no more luck than I had. Just as I had feared, the conditioner didn't work which left only one option: cutting it out. I squeezed my eyes shut as she pulled out the scissors and began to work on my hair. Fighting back unwanted tears, my ears were struck with the obnoxious noise of the scissors crunching through my long locks over and over again. Thinking back, it wasn't the best idea to keep my eyes closed; I couldn't see how much she was cutting, but at the moment I didn't want to know. If I took one look, I knew I would probably break down without a second glance. With my eyes closed, I let my mind take me away to a place where I wasn't having my hair chopped off.

"Why do you always put your hair up Babe?" Duncan asked me, sitting on the bed and watching me as I got ready for bed in the bathroom. I was currently brushing my teeth wearing one of Duncan's too small for him but way huge on my t-shirts and my hair was up in a pony tail.

"Maybe because I don't want to get toothpaste spit into my hair," I teased after spitting and rinsing out my mouth with water.

"You know what I mean," Duncan growled half-heartedly, opening his arms as I walked back into the room. I smiled at his puppy eyes and settled myself in my husband's lap, his arms wrapped around my waist securely.

"I don't know. I never really thought about it. Why?" Duncan reached up to my hair and tugged the hair band out, my hair falling around me messily. "Duncan," I whined as he began to finger through it.

"I like your hair better when it's down. It's sexy," Duncan assured me, nuzzling my neck with his face as he gently kissed along my collarbone.

"You can be such a barbarian at times; I hope you know that Duncan," I muttered, all the same still relaxing into his embrace as I let out a sigh. Duncan just laughed at this and kissed along my neck as his fingers massaged my scalp, soothing me into a sleepy state.

"Promise me you'll let it grow out more," Duncan whispered against my ear, his voice sounding far away even though I could feel the heat coming off of his body.

"I promise," I yawned out, cuddling against Duncan's chest.

"I love you Courtney," he whispered and I smiled, trying to tell him that I loved him too but falling asleep before I could even part my lips to speak.

The cold feeling of steel against my forehead and something tickling my nose brought me out of my thoughts and I opened my eyes just in time to see a long chunk of hair falling away in front of my face.

"What did you do?" I yelled, sitting up straight in my chair as I stared at my reflection in horror. Previously, my mane had reached the small of my back, lightly layered with long side bangs. My pride and glory, I'd liked to call it as it was one of my best features. Duncan had previously adored the long length, running his fingers through it many, many times before I would fall asleep to the comforting feeling. Now what was left of my hair? All the length had been taken off into a short, blunt bob, reaching no further than my chin. I had bangs, god damn bangs! They weren't even off to the side ones that were in style but those god awful straight across ones! My fear of looking older was reversed; I looked younger! This was a haircut that would have been appropriate for Alex, not me! I was twenty-one for crying out loud! It was a haircut for a five-year old!

Fighting the urge to break down right then and there, I brought my hand up to the disaster which was unfortunately titled 'my hair'. It felt even worse than it looked which I hadn't thought was possible. My neck and shoulders were left exposed to the slight breeze that was not at all comforting, the air making me cold and start to shiver although that also could have been from anger. I could've sworn that the gum was stuck lower than this short length, and I also could've sworn that I had said to leave it as long as possible.

"I had to cut out the gum and you said to do something with your bangs," the hairdresser said, lamely attempting to defend the massacre she had committed on my hair.

What would the kids think? I certainly didn't look like their mother now, and the last thing I needed was for them to not recognize me. My heart sank when I thought of what Duncan would think of this. Oh my, he would hate it. And along with the fact that he was probably pissed off at me from earlier didn't make the situation any better. He'd probably take one look at me and demand that I leave his house, taking the kids with him. Thinking again, I knew I was exaggerating, but the possibility of the situation didn't disappear from my mind.

"I'm not paying for this shit," I spat before storming out of the salon, angrier than before, and heading to my car. I didn't even bother to turn the car on; I just sat in the cold and buried my head in my hands, eliciting a couple of tears in the process. What had I done?

o 0 O 0 o

I was startled awake out of my light slumber by the sound of the door opening and slamming closed. I opened my eyes, squinting them against the dim light of the living room, confused as to who the intruder was that interrupted my peaceful slumber.

"What the hell?" I mumbled, looking up to where an unknown person was putting her bag-identical to Courtney's bag, I noticed dully-on the dining room table. The person looked almost exactly like Courtney, except for the fact that her hair stopped at her jaw line with bangs cut straight across her brow line. This impostor couldn't be my Courtney; my Courtney would never cut her hair as short as that. She loved her long hair. Faux Courtney turned around when I spoke, looking at me uneasily. Suddenly I wasn't so sure that she was a faux Courtney but instead my Courtney. If that was the case, then why did she cut her hair?

"You scared me. I thought you were sleeping," the shadowed figure said softly, rubbing the back of her bare neck awkwardly. There was no mistaking the voice, it was definitely Courtney. I nodded and slowly sat up, rubbing my blurry eyes and hoping that this was just a fault of vision. My fear of this being reality was so strong that I wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep and hope that this was just a really confusing dream. Instead I stretched my back and opened my eyes again. It was no dream.

"Where've you been?" I questioned while she played with a strand of her short hair, uneasy.

"Just... taking care of some errands. I told you earlier."

"Errands that couldn't be taken care of, oh I don't know, tomorrow? When I'm not worried sick that something has happened to you?" She sighed, running a hand nervously through her hair; frustrated.

"None of your business. Why are you sleeping on the couch anyways?" The answer was so simple to me; I didn't know why she couldn't see it for herself.

"Because, where else would I sleep? You're all moody and shit." She huffed at my comment, leaning against the table while rolling her eyes.

"Does the bedroom ring a bell, Duncan?"

"Well I didn't think you wanted me in there. Sleeping in the same bed didn't sound like the best idea after we fought. Besides, if I took the bed that would mean that you would sleep on the couch, and that's not right." She rolled her eyes again at me and crossed her arms.

"I don't care; you can do whatever the hell you want." Since when was this an option? Even I knew that if she caught me sleeping in our bed after we've had a fight that there would be hell to hear and it really wasn't a pretty sight. And besides, every single freaking time I did whatever I wanted it usually ended up in major trouble. I told Courtney this and it only seemed to make her angrier.

"Of course, because let's not forget that everything you want is for the best!" she yelled, laughing bitterly in the end. Okay, now I knew that I'd gotten her started. I didn't want to argue with her; something was wrong. I knew that she wasn't feeling the best; she was pale and she was slightly trembling and touching her stomach every now and then. Was she sick? Thinking back to the past few hours, I knew that if she was sick, she wouldn't have had the energy to yell at me when we had fought.

"I don't want to argue with you Princess. It's late, you should be in bed," I said, giving up with a sigh.

"And you think that I want to stay and argue with you?"

"Sure as hell seems like you do," I muttered. I turned to look at her, but she was looking down at the floor, rubbing her arm as if she was hurt from my comment. I didn't mean to hurt her; I was just voicing my opinion. It didn't seem like it was too harsh to me. Looking at her blank eyes, I knew that I was probably wrong and that the comment had most likely irked her some.

"Is that what you really think of me? That all I want to do is fight with you?" she finally responded, sounding a bit distressed. I scratched my neck awkwardly, not wanting her to know that was exactly what I had begun to think of her.

"Well..."

"You do don't you!" she exclaimed, her voice taking on a surprised and angry tone.

"I didn't say that," I defended, hands up by my chest in a form of surrender just in case she tried and, most likely, wanted to kill me.

"You were implying it!" she hissed, eyes narrowing as she pointed an accusing finger in my direction.

"Now, Sweetheart, that was all you," I teased, not able to resist tormenting her.

"Ugh, I so hate you! I'm going to bed!" she yelled angrily but stayed in her place. Yeah, she so didn't hate me.

"Now comes the frustration," I added playfully in a sing-song voice. Just when I had begun to wonder if I pushed her too far, she began to turn red from the anger, answering my unvoiced question. I knew I was in for it this time and just when I thought Courtney was going to unleash all of her anger on me, her hands wandered to her stomach which she clutched as if in pain. This lasted for only a moment before she was standing up straight and regaining her composure.

"You're so difficult and frustrating. I can't believe I've put up with you for so long," she grumbled, arms crossing over her stomach though I noticed with not nearly as much force as she usually used when angry.

"I can say the same exact thing about you Sweetheart."

"Ugh! You're...you're so..." Courtney cut off abruptly then, turning even paler and slightly green. She clutched her stomach again and I instantly got worried, standing up and going to her aid immediately.

"Courtney? Baby? Are you okay?" I put a hand on her back but she smacked it away before lurching over and uttering a small groan.

"No...not that you care," she panted out while groaning again. I helped support her by putting my arm around her waist and helping her stand.

"Baby, maybe you should sit down. You don't look so good," I tried to tell her, but she just shook her head and closed her eyes, beginning to tremble slightly.

"No… no I'm fin-" Without warning she darted out of my hold and straight to the bathroom where I heard her begin to retch. With a loud sigh, I went in after her and tried to hold back the little hair she had left. Now that in itself was a difficult task all on its own, not to mention rubbing her back and whispering reassurances in her ear all while trying not to smell the vomit. Nobody said being a husband was easy, and if they did they obviously weren't a good one.

Courtney tried to push me away at first with weak attempts with the claim, "you don't need to see this" before she was throwing up again. I ignored the silly attempt to get rid of me and continued to help her out as she retched. Since when did she have that much to vomit anyway? She'd eaten a reasonable breakfast for once, but I knew nothing about her lunch and dinner; she'd left the food I'd brought her on the counter.

After a reasonable amount of time spent throwing up, she sat on the floor shakily before ditching that idea entirely and collapsing on the floor completely; her head resting against the cool tile. I continued to rub her back while she uttered out a small whimper in response.

"C'mon Baby get up now, you need to rinse your mouth out." She shook her head and attempted to snuggle closer to the cooling sensation that the tile provided her in her flushed state.

"No… I don't feel so good..." she murmured, sounding like she was in complete agony. I sighed, closed the toilet lid, and flushed down the contents of her stomach before kneeling down on the floor next to her.

"You need to get up Babe," I tried to tell her again but Courtney just ignored me, so I began to stroke her hair as an attempt to make her feel marginally better. It had always worked before, meaning it should work now too. While comforting my wife, I took some time to get used to the little amount of hair my fingers were able to travel through, and still I was left disappointed.

"Don't do that; don't touch my hair," she muttered and my hand left her short hair immediately.

"Please just get up, Sweetheart," I tried again, rubbing the ends of her hair absentmindedly and ignoring her previous request.

"I...I can't. My stomach hurts too much." I smiled a little before standing up, only to squat back down and to pick her up by the waist so her feet weren't touching the floor anymore. She rested her head on my chest for a moment-and of course, I couldn't resist smirking- before gaining realization of whom she was actually resting on.

"Let go of me you disgusting, revolting, non-obliging, ignoramus ass of a pig!" she ranted on while I only rolled my eyes and sat her down on the counter top. I don't see why she uses such big words to insult me. It's not like I could've followed the meaning of the words coming out of her mouth anyway. I turned on the faucet and cupped some water in my hand before raising it to her mouth.

"C'mon, stop bitching for a moment to rinse your mouth. Careful, don't swallow it." Courtney eyed my hands for a moment before she reluctantly sipped the water from my hand and swished it around in her mouth, spitting it out in the sink afterwards.

"Isn't that better, Babe?" I asked with a hopeful smile, sighing when she only glared angrily at me before turning her head. I sighed again and ran a hand through my hair; great she was still angry with me from before.

"Listen, I'm sorry Courtney." I didn't want to fight with her anymore; all I wanted was to comfort her and let her get some sleep.

"No you're not," she answered back stubbornly, looking down at the floor. I turned her chin so she was looking me straight in the eyes.

"I really am, alright? Just believe me." She only shook her head at me, not bothering to give me a verbal response.

"Baby..." I trailed of, beginning to whine a little.

"If you were really sorry you'd let me quit." This time it was my turn to shake my head no as Courtney started getting into this debate again. Why couldn't she understand why I wouldn't let her quit? I mean seriously, she'd made such a big deal about it in the first place, and now she just wanted to quit? And after all the crap she'd put everyone through?

"You need to finish your year. It's only two months more, you can deal with it."

"No, Duncan I can't, I really can't!" she exclaimed, tears beginning to form in her tired eyes. It hurt to watch her break down like this, but I knew that this was all an act to just get me to let her quit.

"You can. You just have to. It can't be that hard, I don't see why you're overreacting."

"And what the hell do you know about school! You dropped out!" Courtney countered and I couldn't help but grimace because I knew that she had me there. But honestly, how hard could her school really be? She used to be on top of everything! Sure, she'd lived a 'double' life before, but people would've forgotten about it by now.

"I know enough. Now you need to stop acting like a child and focus on finishing the best you can," I said sternly. She turned her head away from me again and began to shake. I realized a few minutes later that she was crying; really crying, not faking, as I had assumed. Why was she crying? What was the matter with her?

"Baby..." I started, about to go and comfort her. I didn't want to fight with her anymore and make her even more upset. Why was she so keen on quitting anyway? What was hurting her so badly that she felt that she had to quit?

"Would you let me quit if I cried hard enough? If I begged hard enough? If I told you how much this was killing me?" she spoke softly, her shoulders shaking harder. I wrapped my arms around her then and rubbed her shoulders gently; anything to get my princess to stop crying.

"It has nothing to do with that. I can't let you quit; not when you wanted this so badly. And I can't let you make decisions that you're going to end up regretting." Courtney looked up at me, begging with her red eyes to let me give her what she wanted.

"But I don't want to do it anymore. Please Duncan, please, please," she begged, sobs escaping her throat by my lack of answer. What was I supposed to say? I didn't want to let her quit, but I didn't want her to be this upset.

"I'm sorry," I spoke quietly, and she understood. Quickly, her mood took a complete 180 degree turn around as she angrily pushed me away from her and stomped off upstairs to our room, muttering all the way. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, about to go comfort my wife again. I didn't care if she didn't want me there, she'd just have to deal with it.

I trudged up the stairs, and knocked on the door, about to say something when I realized the door wasn't locked. Hell, it wasn't even closed all the way. I chuckled, shook my head and opened the door, totally unprepared with what to expect.

I watched Courtney take off her jacket angrily and that should have been my first clue that something was excessively wrong see as it was my jacket that I had given to her. That was the same jacket that she had worn while I was in the hospital. And that was the same jacket that, I now saw, was stained with blood.

"C-courtney?" I stammered out quietly as to not scare her, stunned with what was happening to her. I guess she didn't hear me and thought that she was still alone as she began to claw her welted arms with her nails, harder and harder until they bled. She was crying, more and more with each cut she created. My body was frozen in place with horror as I felt my throat tighten and my stomach knot. It felt like my body was taking forever to react although I'm sure this moment couldn't have lasted more than a second; every cell in my body urging to run to her.

"Courtney!" I yelled, grabbing her attention. I only saw the pain in her eyes for a split second before I was at her side and holding her tightly to me by her waist. "Stop, please stop," I begged, not knowing what else Courtney was doing to herself, and not wanting to see any more. What was Princess doing to herself? What the hell was going on in her school that scared her so much?

I noticed that her breathing began to get shallow as her eyes went wide and she fell limp in my arms. My hands were shaking as I leaned her up against my chest, terrified with what was going on.

"Oh no...Duncan...Duncan I can't breathe..." Courtney gasped out. I began to panic, not knowing what was happening. Was she going to die? Had she lost enough blood to commit suicide? She couldn't leave me now. God she can't leave me ever. Thinking about Courtney-my best friend, wife, mother of my children-dead and gone forever made my own breath start to shorten as my eyes went wide with fear.

"Courtney please, just pull yourself together," I begged, tears threatening to fall. I pushed them back, not thinking about anything but helping her and knowing that I needed to be strong for her so crying and giving up wasn't an option. I tried wracking my brain, back to when I had health class. What was associated with lack of being able to breathe, and acting like you're super stressed out? Asthma? No, she didn't have that although it did explain the lack of air. Maybe a… panic attack? Was that it? Surely, it must be, because Courtney looked like she'd been through this before. I forced myself to calm down and stop shaking, trying to get her to do the same.

"Courtney just take deep breaths, you're going to be okay. Don't think, just calm down and breathe," I said into her ear, slowly rocking us back and forth. Thankfully, she listened and tried to breathe deeply, her chest shaking with the effort. I held her close to me, rubbing her shoulders gently and trying not to let on how terrified I was of what was happening to her. She kept crying though, and I tried wiping her tears away to get her to relax.

"Duncan, I'm sorry...I'm really sorry," she finally said and although her voice was hoarse and barely above a whisper, she was still talking and that meant that she could breathe again which was all that mattered.

"Please, don't talk Princess; just calm down and take deep breaths." I squeezed her a bit tighter, just so she would know that I was there for her and that I was trying to help. Once her breathing turned to normal again, Courtney wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her head in my chest. I responded by holding her even tighter and kissing her head.

"Duncan I'm scared...I'm really scared," she whimpered and I felt helpless; as if I could do nothing but watch.

"Of what Princess? Why don't you just tell me what's bothering you?" I wanted nothing more than to find out just what was hurting Courtney so that I could try and stop it but she never tells me anything and it drives me absolutely insane; to be so close and willing but never getting the chance to help.

"Everything Duncan. That was the second panic attack I've had in the past two weeks. I don't know what's happening to me… am I going to die?" she asked, sounding like one of the twins. I put my finger on her mouth and shushed her, rocking her back and forth slightly to get her to calm down. If she was acting like a kid, I'd treat her like one.

"Don't talk like that; you're going to be just fine. Just calm down and relax. Everything will be fine," I kept chanting into her ear, trying to convince myself as well as her.

"Duncan, I've never had a panic attacks before, at least not until I went back to school." But why won't she tell me what exactly happens to her in school that makes these panic attacks trigger? That's what I would like to know.

"You go to school to learn. Nothing else. I don't see how that causes your panic attacks, and makes you cut yourself." She looked down at her bleeding and ruined arms tearfully before burying her head in my chest again and beginning to sob. My heart sunk at her helplessness and I rubbed her back, trying to get her to stop.

"I...I can't learn. I'm constantly being teased, and tricked, and prodded and hurt. No one likes me, not even the teachers." And with that said she began to sob all over again. And that was enough said to make my blood boil. No one was ever going to touch her ever again.

"Please let me quit Duncan, I'll do anything, take any offer, just please." I pondered the thought, just for show. Oh, I knew what I was going to do. She won't win the battle, not on my terms.

"One week. Just one week, and if I see that things are really as bad as they seem, you can quit; if that's what you really want," I finally told Courtney and she looked up at me tearfully as if I was brought down from heaven to save her.

"Just one week, and then I can quit?" I nodded and kissed her head.

"Everything will be fine, just fine," I whispered, just for her to hear while silently I was praying that it really would be.

"And I'll stop having panic attacks?" Courtney then asked and I scratched my head, not knowing what to say to her.

"I'm no psychologist...or doctor or some shit like that, so I'm really not sure. But if you want my two cents, I think you will." I added in a soft smile to reassure her.

"And I'll stop cutting myself?" This question was asked much more quietly than the other two, as if she were ashamed that she had cut herself and speaking about it was like sin. Honestly, I was glad that Courtney was reacting this way about her cutting because it meant that there was a higher chance she'd actually stop.

"Yes, you will, because now way in hell am I ever letting you cut again," I said sternly, leaving no room to argue. She simply nodded and I cuddled her closer to me, fingering her hair again.

"Why'd you cut your hair?" I finally asked, the question having long since been on my mind when I first saw the new hair.

"You mean you don't like it?" she asked sarcastically after a quiet pause and I chuckled at her comment. Truthfully, no, I didn't like it much; not that I would ever tell her that.

"I just needed a change. You know, back to the old Courtney. I was sick of my hair reminding me of the 'popular' Courtney." With that said, I knew she was lying. First of all, she was speaking softly with her eyes towards the floor. Secondly, I knew that she loved her hair. Thirdly, if she wanted to get rid of it, she would have done it when I first left her. She even mentioned it to me in the hospital that though she'd hated the blonde highlights, she wouldn't cut her hair off because of them. So what on earth had possessed her to do it?

"But you loved your hair, Baby," I reminded her and she nodded subconsciously, leaning against me for comfort.

"It was time for a change," Courtney lied again. Alright, if that's the way she wanted to play it, then fine. I would find out soon enough on my own.

"Where else did you go out to when you left?"

"I got hungry and craved some McDonald's; so I just had to stop by and get some. But I don't think I ate enough, because now I'm kinda hungry again," she admitted, blushing. I was just glad to see some color back in her face.

"C'mon then, let's go get you cleaned up and then I'll make you something to eat," I promised her while standing up, lending her a hand to get up as well. Courtney accepted it gratefully and I put my arm around her protectively, leading her to the bathroom. Once there, I sat her on the counter and turned on the faucet, wetting a towel with luke-warm water before beginning to clean up her wounds.

"Ow… ow… owww," she whimpered, hissing the last one. I kissed her cheek as an apology, but muttered one out also; continuing to clean up her horrible cuts. They were bloody and some were scabbed over, some already turning into scars.

"I'm the one who should be sorry. I'm the one who went all psychotic," Courtney muttered, staring at anything that wasn't me or her arms. I lifted her chin so she was looking at me and made sure that she understood me.

"Izzy's the one who's psychotic, not you. Don't you even go thinking that," I told her, but she remained doubtful and buried her head in her hands, wincing when it caused her pain in her arms. I raised her head to look at me and caressed it softly.

"Okay, so maybe you do go a little off your rocker sometimes," I started, unable to keep the smile from my face as, believe it or not, fond memories of Courtney loosing her mind popped up. "But baby, it's your crazy that drives me crazy," I finished and she stayed quiet after that for a while as I continued to dab at her arms. I noticed her looking down at her arms for a long time, making a disgusted face at the gory sight. I didn't blame her; it was damn nasty.

"What's wrong with me?" she finally asked, looking down and letting her hair cover her eyes. A few moments tears began to silently run down her cheeks which I hadn't even been able to notice thanks to the haircut I hated because it covered up her face. I'd have to figure out a way to get past that little obstacle in the future, but until then I just lifted her chin up and brushed the hair out of her face.

"Hey, nothing's wrong with you. This is all a little thing that you're going through right now; you'll get past it. You're completely and one-hundred percent you and I wouldn't want it any other way. Sure we fight a lot, and you always want things your way, but I love you for that; I married you didn't I?" I held up my hand with my ring as I spoke and waved it for good measure. Courtney breathed deeply with a small sniffle and put her arms around my neck, holding me tight.

"I love you too," she whispered softly. I kissed her forehead, letting her know that everything I said was the complete and total truth.

"Do I have to go to school tomorrow?" she asked meekly, as if she would anger me with the mere thought.

"Of course not baby," I said, gently pushing her hair back from her face. I looked around the cluttered bathroom counter, searching for the one object I had in mind. I found Courtney's pink headband by the sink and smiled, handing it to her. She only looked at me questioningly, fiddling with the object as if it was something alien and she had no idea what to do with it. I laughed and took it from her hands, putting it in her hair and watched as it pulled her hair out of her face, letting me see her beautiful eyes again.

"There we go," I said softly, smiling as I looked at Courtney. "Sorry babe, I just can't stand your hair covering your pretty face like that." She giggled softly before turning pale again, clutching her stomach.

"Oh no, not again," she groaned while putting her hand over her mouth. I helped her get off the counter, opening the toilet lid slowly.

"There there," I coaxed as she began to violently puke again. I held my breath in as to not smell the stench as I rubbed her back with one hand and held her hair back with the other. When she finished she lay sideways on the floor again, resting her cheek against the tile.

"I'm sorry," she whispered hoarsely.

"Don't be, c'mon up, you know the drill," I urged her, squatting down so that I could help her up.

"No, I feel more coming," she groaned, clutching her stomach as if it pained her. What was going on with her? Was she sick? That option wasn't likely as she'd been fine-health-wise that is-during the past few days...or was she? What if her sudden illness was self-induced by stress? What if it was from something I did? The thought made me feel sick myself, and I rubbed my temples as to ease the small head-ache that had corrupted awhile ago.

"Just let it all out," I soothed and within seconds she jerked up suddenly again and retched some more. I held her hair back again.

"Yeah, that's it," I coaxed as she looked simply miserable. When she finished-for the last time, I hoped-she slumped in my arms and whimpered slightly. I rubbed her arms and kissed her head, hoping that would make her feel slightly better.

"I'm sorry," she said again and I wondered why she was the one apologizing.

"Don't be, it's my fault. Everything's my fault." She turned to look at me and rubbed my cheek gently, confusion in her eyes.

"How's it your fault?"

"I made you stressed with everything, so badly, that you just cracked." She snorted, shaking her head and trying to hide a small smile. I couldn't help but wonder what was so damn funny.

"Duncan don't be stupid, it wasn't you." This time it was my turn to snort; who else could it be besides me?

"Then who was it, the tooth fairy? It's always been me, and only could be me," I said, thinking back to all the times that I had regretfully hurt Courtney. I would accept all the pain in the world if it meant taking back all the hurt that I'd caused her. She turned back around, leaning against my arms, and playing with a piece of her short hair distractedly.

"It was never you, Duncan. I guess it started when you left and got into a coma, then it was me going back to school, and then everybody finding out about who I really was. Then there was the gum thing today, and then finding out about the baby," she rattled on, suddenly gasping as if having realized something. I ran what she'd just said over again in my head, and was left with more information than I could handle. What about gum? What did that have to do with anything? And what baby was she talking about? She...she couldn't be pregnant again...could she? She would've told me.

"Wait, wait, wait Princess; back it up a few notches there. Let's take it one at a time. What gum thing?" She fidgeted for a few moments before sighing and running a hand through her hair, frustrated.

"Well...truth is...I stood up to Dana today for all the crap she'd pulled on me and as her final trick... she decided to stick her gum in my hair," Courtney told me uneasily.

"Oh Courtney," I groaned in understanding. Figures Princess would do something like that; not knowing what the true outcome would be. I made a mental note that next time I saw that bitch Dana to murder her, no matter what cost.

"Yeah...um..," she swallowed uneasily. "So that's why I had to cut my hair so short," she concluded, and I finally understood. Forget murdering her, first I'd shave her bald. I turned Courtney towards me and kissed her forehead. She looked up at me with scared eyes and I rubbed her face gently, letting her know that I understood and wouldn't question any further.

"Okay, next. What baby?" I asked, my voice sounding slightly weak as I held in my breath and awaited an answer. She took even longer in answering me this time and I began to become more worried.

"Bridgette's having a baby," she finally said and I let out my breath. "She just told me a few days ago, and she's worried what Geoff will think. Of course having a kid at twenty-one is much better than eighteen… but still." Her face was downcast, making me wonder if there was more up than just Bridgette being pregnant especially since that piece of information seemed rather irrelevant.

"That's great news for her, but what does that have anything to do with you?"

"It just does, okay!" Courtney suddenly snapped and I raised my hands up in defeat, stunned by her sudden mood change. Don't want to get on her bad side after she was this calm.

"Alright, calm down." And so she did. I pulled her close to me and hugged her gently, not wanting to hurt her any further. After a few moments she groaned, pulled back and put her face in her hands.

"Duncan. I lied." This made me raise my eyebrow with curious worry, the knot coming back in my stomach.

"About what?" My stomach was knotting again as I stared at Courtney with wide eyes, my breath caught in my throat. She sniffled, and tears began to run down her cheeks once more.

"It's...it's not Bridgette's baby," she said softly, refusing to look at me. And suddenly it all clicked. The vomiting, the sudden mood swings, the craving for absolute junk and abnormal hunger. Holy shit.

"You're pregnant," I choked out, my throat suddenly devoid of all moisture. She noticed my tone and slumped against the floor, barely nodding but her crying becoming more noticeable. Shit... she's pregnant again. How the hell were we going to take care of another kid?

"How long?" I found myself asking, though my words sounded far away and as if they were spoken by someone else.

"Not long, barely a month," she mumbled softly.

"And when exactly were you going to tell me?" As hard as I tried, I couldn't keep the tints of anger from my voice.

"I took the test two weeks ago; I went to the doctor's last week. I was just waiting for the right time," Courtney tried to explain but I barely heard what she was saying, off in another world and trying to understand just how this could have happened and trying to ignore my fears; my fears of not being able to support another child.

Damn it, another stupid mistake because I forgot to use the damned condom. Don't get me wrong, I loved the twins to death... but could we really take care of another kid? Sure, Courtney was quitting school, but I was planning to start to work as soon as she got used to being home with the kids. How was this going to work out with another kid on the way?

"Well, having another kid won't be so bad, right?" She shrugged and wiped her eyes, taking her face out of her hands.

"I guess..."

"I just feel bad that I'm going to be out working, and I'm leaving you, pregnant, behind to take care of not only yourself, but the kids too," I murmured, rubbing the back of my neck while taking in a deep breath.

"I don't mind that. I can take care of myself plenty fine. I've already been pregnant once, I know what to expect," Courtney assured me and I almost snorted, but held it back as to not trouble my already upset wife any further.

"Then what's the problem here? Alright so you're pregnant. We're having another kid, isn't that a good thing?" I remarked happily, trying to get her mood up.

"Not when that kid is a freaking accident Duncan!" she snapped, and I was left startled. Since when had Courtney ever responded this way about a kid? She wasn't even this bad back in high school when she turned up pregnant with the twins.

"Whoa, calm down Princess. Alright, so the kid may be an accident because we forgot to use a condom; but we'll love it just as much as the twins won't we?" She nodded slowly.

"I guess. It's just that… well… if we wanted another kid why couldn't we have just planned it instead of having be a complete accident?" She asked, sighing as she hugged herself.

"Princess, exactly how many of the world's kids are 'planned', as you so put it? I know I wasn't planned, but I was wanted anyways. Do you honestly think your parents sat down and decided to have you? No. Most of the time, kids just happen," I tried to explain to her, choosing my words wisely so that nothing I could say would set her off on another mood. Courtney stayed quiet for a little while, not knowing what to say.

"So do you want to keep the baby?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, of course. Do you?" This was the answer that I feared to hear from Courtney most because she seemed so distressed thanks to the baby and I wasn't sure if she would honestly want to keep it or not.

"Yeah, I really do." I couldn't stop myself from letting out a small sigh of relief, the nervous knotted feeling in my stomach going away as I smiled softly at my wife.

"Then it's settled. C'mon, let's get you cleaned up then I'll cook you something to eat. Sound good?" She nodded and I chuckled, putting my arms around her waist and helping her stand. My hand accidentally brushed against her stomach and she giggled, putting her hand over mine and keeping it there. She looked up at me fondly and smiled warmly.

"We're gonna have another baby."


	21. Duncan's Tale

**Hey Guys! Hope you like this chapter. Credit goes to my beta reader, Because Love is WAY Overrated. I'm working on Prinzessin as we speak, hopefully that'll come out soon. Birthday shout out goes to Alexex :D**

**Have you guys seen the injustice of the Duncan and Gwen kiss? It's ridiculous, and I'm very depressed about this...**

It was the quietness of the house woke me up this morning. I was so used to waking up earlier, and dealing with the chatty and squealing twins and a usually aggravated Courtney in the morning. But oddly enough, it was quiet when I finally got up.

Groaning softly, I rolled over to my other side before bumping into another scantily-clad form; the events from the previous night crashing back to me. Bolting up in a panic at first, I relaxed when I had remembered that things had cooled down. No wonder I was so glad of the tranquility; after last night's yelling and drama, the silence was more than welcomed. Smiling softly, I turned to look at my peacefully sleeping wife; sliding back down and propping myself up on my elbow so I could look at her. Chuckling, I stroked her short hair; remembering what she had said in her sleep about the dreadful style. I moved my hand down to her exposed soon-to-be-growing stomach and rubbed it with my fingers fondly.

Huh, another kid; who would've thought? I yearned for another little girl I could spoil like Alex, but a brother for Devon would be just fine too. Courtney stirring from her slumber broke me from my thoughts about my future child and I looked back at her to see her squint her eyes. She began to speak again, and I leaned forward anxiously to see what she would say about her hair this time.

"No... don't cut that much off... I'm ruined… ruined, ruined..." Courtney grumbled, her eyebrows furrowing together in a look of distress. Chuckling again, I decided to wake her up from her nightmare.

"Princess...Baby, wake up. It's just a bad dream," I whispered quietly into her ear, rubbing her bare shoulders; taking my time with the movement as I relished the feeling of her skin against mine.

"Duncan? s'that you?" Courtney asked, looking happy for a moment before the worry kicked back in and her wrinkles appeared. "Don't kick me out... I'll grow it back, I promise..." she tried to assure me and I had to let her go back to her slumber and dream whatever her mind wanted as I fought the urge to laugh hysterically. Courtney could use a lot of sleep especially since today was the big day; no more school for Princess. Boy, would she be surprised when I told her what I was about to do.

Standing up and stretching, the sound of my joints popping like sweet music of relief, I headed to the bathroom and got ready for going out. I chose my most terrifying clothes, chuckling as I pictured the reaction on the stupid clique's faces when they see me. Seeing as it was a 'special' occasion, I put in all my piercings; wincing when I had to force some of them in due to some of the holes being closed up for awhile. Exiting the bathroom, I grinned noticing that Courtney was still talking to herself. Unable to watch my wife lay mumbling in bed any longer, I sat on the bed again, shaking her slightly.

"Babe, wake up. Princess, wake up," I said softly, stroking the side of her face with a fondness it'd taken me years to develop for Courtney. Within moments her eyes fluttered open and she looked straight at me.

"Why'd you wake me up so early? You said I didn't have to go to school," she whined, flipping over to her other side and closing her eyes again. I chuckled and patted her back, letting it go.

"Just wanted to tell you I'm going out for a bit. I'll be back before you wake up again. Sweet dreams." And with that I kissed her cheek, taking pleasure in the fact that she had smiled. Hopefully she would reside with good dreams this time.

I stopped at the nursery before heading out, feeling the need to check up on my kids. It was a proud day in my books when they finally decided to take after Courtney for once and learn the art of sleeping in; doing it now every chance they got. I paused by their cribs and stared at them fondly, watching them sleep peacefully; god knows when they would ever be this quiet again. Smiling, I ruffled Devon's hair and bent over to kiss Alex's nose before exiting their room and shutting the door behind me. We'd have to buy them regular beds and split them up into two separate rooms soon; they were getting too big for cribs. Hopefully, I'd only have to be there during the set up because the last thing I want is to see Alex's reaction upon being split into a different room than her brother.

Within minutes I was in the car and driving along the freeway, drumming my fingers to the beat of the song on the radio. I couldn't focus on what I was about to do, otherwise I would surely change my mind and turn the car back around and go straight back to bed. Going back home and stripping down to curl up in bed next to Courtney certainly sounded like a very tempting offer, but I had it set in my mind to get this done and was going to follow through. Being in bed with Courtney will just have to wait until after.

Continuing to drive, I finally arrived at my destination: Courtney's high school. Wondering what I was really doing there, I headed to the main office, somehow magically knowing my way around. Guess if you've seen one high school, you've seen them all.

A middle aged woman at the front desk raised her eyebrows when I came over, assuming I was some criminal about to inflict harm on the students. If I was lucky, I would only be inflicting harm on one of them. I saw her fingers twitch towards the phone, about to call for security, I assumed, but I ran a hand through my hair and decided to relieve her of the stress.

"Who do I need to talk to if I want to pull somebody out of this school… like for good?" I asked, leaning against her desk casually. The woman raised her eyebrows at me, probably guessing the worse about me and thinking that I was doing this as some kind of prank. I'd tried doing that back when I was in high school, and it was unbelievingly funny.

"Well, that depends. Do you have any relations with the person you want to pull out? You look too young to be a father, but you could be an older brother," she mumbled, sizing me up in a way that I could have sworn felt dangerously like being checked out. This was a typical response that I heard often from adults like her… except for the whole being checked out thing. That's a new one. But many times when I'd taken the twins out, I'd gotten that response. 'Is that your little sister?' was the most common one when referring to Alex. I was used to the scolding looks I'd get when telling them the truth.

"For your information, yes, I do have relations with the person I'm pulling out; she's my wife. And also, for your information, we have two lovely children," I snapped, realizing afterwards that maybe being so ruff with the woman may not have been the best thing to do when her eyes slightly widened and her lips pursed.

There was a haughty look on her face as she spoke to me next. "Well then, I'm going to need proof, and you would have to talk to the principal. I think it would be best if your wife would come in here and complete the process herself; just for the sake of liability."

"Yeah, but she wanted me to do it for her. She isn't feeling so well today. But thanks for all the helpful advice," I said smoothly, walking past her into what I assumed was the principal's office. I waited patiently as the stubby, wrinkly old man held up a finger to me while talking on the phone. When he hung up, he smiled warmly at me; a true, genuine smile.

"Hello! Come in and take a seat, make yourself at home." As much as I wanted to, I couldn't force a sarcastic comment out of my mouth. This guy actually did make me feel welcomed, which was strange because out of all the high schools I'd ever attended, not one had made me feel this comfortable and wanted. I sat down in a plushy, overstuffed chair in front of him, as his gaze never averted me.

"So, what can I do for you? I've never seen you before, so you don't strike me as a student here," he observed, organizing some of his papers without even looking down at them. I couldn't help but raise my eyebrow at this before answering the man's question.

"Nah, I don't go here, but my wife does," I explained and his eyes lit up happily. I couldn't help but grin at this homely man.

"Is there a baby on the way, young man?" he asked earnestly, and without a joking tone. I couldn't help but appreciate this as I pulled out my wallet.

"Actually, we have three year old twins." I pulled the pictures out of my wallet and showed them to him, promptly cooing in awe. My grin never faltered during this whole conversation. But I couldn't help but wonder that if this man was the power behind the school, how did it turn out so crappy and miserable for Courtney?

"They're simply adorable..." he trailed off, trying to get me to fill in the blank with my name.

"Duncan. Their mother is Courtney, who's a student here."

"I see. Now surely you didn't come here to show me pictures of your adorable kids," the principal inquired and I sighed, leaning back in my chair a little. Courtney so owed me when I got back home.

"Ah, well, I want to pull Courtney out of the school system," I said and his eyebrows rose in confusion from my comment. Unlike I had expected though, he didn't start bitching or lecturing about how much of a stupid idea that was.

"May I ask why? And so late in the school year?" I was grateful for his concern instead of the authority he could have projected. Certainly he was much kinder to the situation than I had been to Courtney.

"She's been having a bullying problem here, and last night... it, uh, risked her health," I said uncomfortably, thinking back to how I had found Courtney in our room and feeling a shudder run down my spine as I tried to block out the images. "I don't want it to happen again, and in consideration of her health and well being, I want to take her out before it gets really serious," I fully explained, refusing to meet the man's eyes as my hands fisted in determination. I didn't want Courtney to have any more panic attacks. Who knows how long it would be before she would have to be taken to the hospital? Worst of all was the cutting, and there was no way in absolute hell that I was going to let her continue the awful habit. One way or another, she was getting out of this school; today.

"I see," the principal said thoughtfully. "Has she given consent to this?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowing just a smidgen.

"Of course. I wanted to surprise her when I got back home...," I trailed off, thinking then of how happy Courtney would be. I'd surely be able to get back into bed with her if I got this over with.

"I'm afraid I can't finalize it without proof of her consent, but if you bring her here a bit later on, it'll be no problem," the man informed me and while it wasn't exactly what I had planned, I still breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing how easy the process was. And I could still surprise her, in theory.

"That's great! I'll bring her a bit later on, it'll be no problem."

"Well excellent! I look forward to seeing you both," he said, standing as I grinned and stood as well; thanking him before walking out of the office. I couldn't help but smirk at the nosy receptionist, who was most likely snooping into our conversation. She scowled and I continued to walk away, heading back to my car. Boy, Princess owed me huge.

What shocked me the most when I got home was the lasting silence that still consumed it. How could everybody still be asleep? Especially the kids! They'd gone to bed a little after eight, and now it was well over ten. They should be bouncing off the walls right now demanding pony rides or something else equally emasculating. Guess all that lack of sleep was finally catching up with them. Figuring it was better to wake Courtney first, I headed for our room.

To my surprise, she was also still sleeping, and still mumbling. Deciding to finally relieve her of the nightmares, I climbed into bed with her and wrapped my arms around her waist. "Princess," I whispered. "I'm home."

"Duncan? Don't leave me..." she mumbled, cuddling up to my chest. I chuckled and pulled her closer.

"Never," I assured her, kissing her temple as I breathed in her intoxicating scent. Having showered or not, Courtney still always managed to smell wonderful. She stayed quiet for about ten seconds before I saw her eyes flash open and look at me.

"Am I awake?" she asked uncertainly and I couldn't help but to laugh at the silly question.

"Mhm," I confirmed, rubbing her back and kissing her head again.

"How much did you happen to hear?" Courtney then asked, biting her bottom lip with worry.

"Just about everything," I said casually and her eyes popped wider. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Fantastic," she groaned, blushing as she buried her face into my neck. I kissed her head again and helped her sit up.

"You really don't like your hair, do you?" I asked, laughing when she turned red and started to sputter out nonsense. Finally she calmed down enough to sigh and tell me that she hated it.

"Then why the hell did you get it like that?" I demanded, fingering through the short strands which was all that remained of the long hair I had loved so much.

"Because a dumb bitch stuck gum in it and a cow of a hairdresser didn't know how to follow directions," Courtney muttered, shaking her hair out and running a hand through it as if just to prove to herself that it wasn't all a messed up dream.

"Lemme guess, you're going to sue the pants off of the place," I stated, not even needing to really say it like a question. I already knew the answer to it and had prepared myself to find a good lawyer.

"Damn right," Courtney huffed, crossing her arms as I chuckled and got out of bed to stretch and crack my tense back once again.

"Are the kids awake yet?" Princess asked, covering her mouth with her hand as she yawned. I shook my head no and helped her out of bed. She lazily headed to her closet and picked out a simple dress which she threw over her undergarments. I wrapped my arms around her waist and it was then she noticed that I was wearing street clothes, and piercings.

"You went out somewhere," she accused, gently jabbing a finger at my chest. I took her hands in my own and rubbed them gently.

"Yeah, it's a surprise," I whispered secretively, smiling as she narrowed her eyes at me and lightly slapped my arm.

"I don't like surprises. Now go take your piercings out; you could scare the kids, or scratch them, or even get yourself hurt," Courtney informed me and I rolled my eyes at her but all the same headed to the bathroom to take them off.

"Yes Dear, nice to know you're welcoming back the piercings so well," I muttered, wincing as I pulled out studs from some of the more sensitive piercings.

"Oh shut up. I'm making your breakfast for once so be happy if I don't poison it." Princess threatened, but I knew she would never do such a thing. It was amazing that even after all the drama she's caused last night, things could go back to normal; like flipping a switch on and off. I decided it was probably safest not to say anything and instead proceeded to take out my piercings, grumbling all the while.

"Do you want to go wake the kids up?" Courtney asked quietly from the doorway. I looked over at her and raised my eyebrows.

"Why can't you do it? I do it every morning," I suggested, muttering a swear under my breath as one of the piercing I pulled out started to bleed. This is what I get for having two wonderful kids and a gorgeous wife that makes me take out my piercings. I looked at Courtney through the mirror as she sighed and rested her head against the doorway.

"The kids are very...sensitive to changes...and..." she trailed off, running her fingers through her hair. I snorted and went back to my piercings.

"Oh come off it. They're three." She didn't respond and turned away, heading for the twins' room. I didn't see what the big deal was; clearly she was overreacting. Or so I supposed. Maybe it was one of her wacky mood swings that was driving us both insane. When I'd finished removing my piercings, I walked out to the living room where I heard a commotion going on.

"Sweetie, please. Devon, it's really me," Courtney begged, sitting on her knees in front of an upset Devon and a confused Alex.

"You don't look like my mommy! Put your long hair back on!" So this was what Courtney was talking about. Huh, maybe I should've listened to her.

"Sweetie, I wish I could, but I can't-"

"No! You're not my mommy!" Alex accused and Courtney sighed heavily, looking completely distressed and lost. I sat down beside her, putting my arm around her shoulders. "You okay?" I whispered softly, rubbing her shoulder with my thumb.

"What do you think?" Courtney muttered, looking over at her playing children with sad eyes.

"Do you want me to go talk to them?" I offered, hating to see Princess so upset especially when this was supposed to be a happy day because I was getting her out of that horrible school.

"You can, but you'll probably just be wasting your room. They're three Duncan; that means they're stubborn too," Courtney reminded me and I just laughed softly while nodding.

"Yeah well I'm great at dealing with stubborn people and convincing them to see things my way," I assured her, standing up as she gave me a look that said she didn't believe me. "I got you to go out with me, didn't I?"

As expected, this comment earned me a dirty look followed by a light slap to the calf, but an overall smile from Courtney which was all that I really wanted. With lifted spirits and determination set, I headed over for the twins and plopped myself down directly in their line of play.

"Move Daddy," Alex whined, trying to push me out of the way but failing in a very adorable fashion.

"Why? I just wanna play too," I confessed, smiling down at my children who instantly perked up.

"Wha we gonna play?" Devon asked, practically jumping up and down with excitement for something he didn't even know about. I couldn't help but laugh at this, committing this moment to memory so that I would always remember my children in this beautiful innocent stage.

"Beached whale!" I shouted before dropped onto my back with a huff. The kids automatically started climbing all over me seeing as I was defenseless, lying on my back on the ground; that was prime time to attack for these munchkins. Alex sat down on my chest while Devon worked on crawling over my legs and trying to push Alex off of me, both of them giggling like it was going out of fashion.

"Don't you kids know you're not supposed to climb on beached whales?" I grunted out as Devon's knee went straight into my gut. At this point, I'm just glad they haven't decided to crawl over anything below the belt; that wouldn't be pretty.

Alex's eyes lit up after I had made that comment and in a snap she was gone from my chest, Devon happy to keep the spot warm for her as he started bouncing on me. I laughed and helped him bounce, even lifting him up in the air a little as he squealed with joy. The joy ended real fast though when water was dumped on my face. I sputtered and coughed, wiping the moisture away from my eyes and looking up to see Alex standing over me… with an empty glass.

"I saw people do that on animal planet," she informed me and while I should have been mad since I just got water dumped on my face, I just laughed and grabbed her. Right away Alex was thrown into a fit of laughter as I started bouncing her too. Of course Devon became jealous so I made room for both of them on my chest and started bouncing them again. When I started getting tired, I rolled over with the kids still on me; cradling their heads on my hands so that they wouldn't knock them on the ground.

"Daddy what's wrong?" Devon inquired, sitting up next to Alex and watching me as I panted on my side. Taking in a few more breaths, I finally looked up at my kids before letting out a groan and falling onto my back once again; my eyes closed and tongue sticking out in a very mock dead pose. As I had expected, the twins were at my side immediately, poking me and calling for me. I just continued playing dead until a little finger poked my tongue. It was then that I sprang to life again, sitting up and grabbing a kid in each arm as they were thrown into such a powerful fit of giggles that I was kinda worried they weren't able to breathe.

"Pony ride Daddy!" Alex chanted, Devon soon joining her as they bounced in my arms.

"I'd love to guys, but this beached whale is really really tired. But I'm sure Mommy would like to go play with you guys, why don't you go make her a beached whale," I suggested before quickly looking down at Alex. "Except this beached whale gets saved by kisses," I added, smiling down at her while she just looked up at me skeptically.

"But that's not mommy," she whispered, stealing a glance over at Courtney who was just sitting with her back against the couch, looking down at her folded hands sadly.

"What do you mean it's not Mommy? Of course it is," I said sternly, defending Courtney.

"Then why did she cut off all her pretty hair?" Devon asked, looking over at Courtney with sad eyes.

"Trust me babies, Mommy didn't want to but she really had no choice. She's really sad about it too and could use some love," I told the kids and they looked at each other for a moment before wiggling out of my arms and making their way over to Courtney. Once there, they started chanting to her about how she should become a beached whale that they could save. As the twins helped lower Courtney onto the ground, our eyes met and I could see how happy she was to have her kids back. There was no verbal 'thank you' spoken, but I knew it was there; her lit up and tear filled eyes told me that.

As I got up and started walking towards the kitchen, I could hear all three of my loved ones start to laugh and it made me smile as I peeked over my shoulder at them. Alex and Devon were all over Courtney, kissing her face and arms as they chanted 'beached whale'. Looking at them, I tried to picture a third child in there too; playing right along side them.

For whatever reason, I couldn't.

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"Remind me again why I'm dressing up this nicely?" Courtney called out from our closet. I chuckled and made myself more comfy on our bed, relishing the feel of pure relaxation. God knows I would need it for this afternoon.

"It's a surprise, Babe." It was the same thing I told her all the other times she had asked and Courtney always gave me the same response,

"I hate surprises...it better be a good one."

"Trust me Darling, it i-oh, wow," I choked, seeing her step out of the closet in a form fitting black mini-dress with black stilettos to match. I hated to say it, but the bangs really framed her face with the dress and made her look years younger. I gaped at her as she stood nervously, fiddling with the hem of the short mini-dress.

"Do you like it? I wasn't sure whether I should buy it or not...," she muttered nervously, picking at invisible pieces of lint. I stood and wrapped my arms around her waist instantly, planting a kiss on her unsuspecting lips.

"You look gorgeous. Super sexy and completely bangable. In fact… I think maybe tonight..." I trailed off there, wiggling my eyebrows in a more than suggestive manner.

"Shut up," she giggled, her face red from the compliment, or the suggestion; I wasn't sure. All the same I grinned and stepped back, grabbing her bag off the dresser and handing it to her.

"C'mon, let's go." I wrapped my arm around her and led her to the front door, pausing only once to let the babysitter know that we would only be gone for a couple of hours. Once her conformation was set, we walked to the car and I held the door open for her, watching her climb in anxiously.

"Where are we going?" Courtney asked once we'd gotten out on the road and had been driving for at least ten minutes.

"You'll see." Once we reached the familiar road leading up to the school, I looked at her to catch her staring forward at it, wide eyed. I grabbed her hand and squeezed it reassuringly, only to have her snatch it away. I'd somewhat expected that, so I didn't let it bug me.

"You're joking, right?" Courtney's voice sounded dry as she asked me this, but I couldn't answer her as I kept driving. We neared closer, and closer to the school as Courtney kept looking at me with wide, terrified eyes. When I parked, I realized that tears had built up and were threatening to fall any moment.

"Sweetheart, don't cry. Trust me, this isn't what you think," I tried to assure, but she shook her head at me, betrayal obvious in her features. Oh, if only she knew what I was really planning for her.

"You... you asshole! You lied to me! You said I wouldn't have to go today!" Courtney yelled, pointing an accusing finger in my direction. While it sucked that she was so upset about it, I knew that she'd be very happy when she learned the truth so I laughed and practically dragged her out of the car. She protested and sulked the whole time, but it didn't matter; I dragged her to the principal's office anyway. Truthfully, I did feel a bit bad. It was cruel that it seemed like I betrayed her, but she would flip out when I told her the truth. This time, there was no hassle in getting to the principal's office.

"Oh hello! Duncan, how nice to see you again. Oh, and Courtney, now I remember you," the elderly man beamed, taking in her appearance. "You really are as gorgeous as Duncan claimed you were. And your kids are simply beautiful," the principal gushed, all the while Courtney looked at me in awe.

"W-why thank you," she stammered, astonished. Looking through his drawers for only a moment, he pulled out a piece of paper, which I recognized to be the paper that would get her out of this school forever. Courtney, of course, didn't recognize the piece of paper and looked at me questioningly. I simply urged her forward.

"Go on; sign the paper where your principal tells you to." She gave me one last questioning glance before she walked forward hesitantly and bent over the papers, the small scribbling the only sound in the quiet office. When she finished, the principal took the paper from her and grinned at me.

"Well, Duncan, I'm sure you want to give her the good news yourself...," the principal suggested and I nodded, smiling. Courtney turned to look at me with a confused face and I took her in my arms.

"Congratulations, Court," I whispered against her ear, practically feeling her face scrunch with confusion. "You are officially," I continued, smiling wider as Courtney started to tremble in my arms, "done with this high school." When I was done, I felt her tense in my arms before she looked up at me with wide, tearing eyes.

"Are you serious?" She asked breathlessly. I nodded and she let out a cry of joy and jumped up and wrapped her legs around my waist. I kissed her passionately and didn't care that an old man was watching us.

"I'll give you two a couple of minutes." With that said he left the room, leaving Courtney and I to our splendor. She pulled back to look at me and gave me the brightest smile I'd ever seen on her face.

"I...I can't believe you did this," she said holding my face in her hands and stroking it gently with her fingers.

"You didn't really think that I would let you stay here for a whole week did you?" Her face flushed and I knew that it was exactly what she had thought. Courtney hugged me tighter, trying not to cry. Sometimes, she really made it difficult to deal with her mood swings.

"I...I love you so much. You're so perfect, I love you," she gushed, kissing my face all over. I couldn't help but chuckle at her lavish display of affection.

"It's all for you, Princess. I couldn't let you spend another minute in this God-awful school. Now, c'mon, let's go clean your locker out and then go to lunch to celebrate," I proposed, turning around to wrap my arm around her waist and leave the room. I caught the principal's eye on the way out and I winked at him, earning myself a smile from the man in return. Courtney kept talking about how awesome I was the whole time, much to the joy of my ego. Something told me that I wouldn't get her this happy in a long time.

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Walking out of the school, for the last time I hoped, I turned to smile at Courtney, making her beam at me in return. A box full of textbooks and notes from Courtney's locker was in my hands, not letting her carry anything as today was her special day. The walk was peaceful and silent, both of us saving our expectations and energy for the outing we were going to have in a couple of minutes.

I noticed that Courtney had stopped walking a couple of paces ahead of her, and turned to look to see what was causing her to pause. A look of distress was on her face, and I figured it to be her morning sickness-which I now realized could happen at any time of the day. I turned back and coaxed her with soft, gentle words, except she wasn't answering and she wasn't even bothering to look at me.

"Babe? What's wrong? Are you feeling sick?" She shook her head and finally turned to look at me, a look of bitterness on her face.

"Let's just go. I don't want to be here any longer." Wondering what had burst her happy bubble in a mere moment, I couldn't help but inquire. It was probably just her mood swings.

"Why? Babe, you okay?" She bitterly reassured me and stated that she wanted to leave again. Even though she was keeping her voice low, we attracted quite a couple of onlookers due to it being the student's lunch hour. Nevertheless I ignored them and kept persisting for Courtney to tell me what's wrong. I turned to follow her line of previous vision and saw a group of the typical 'prep' teenagers, not far off from where we were. Well, the prep image was mixed in with the slut image due to the way the girls dressed. A blonde one caught my eye and turned to her group, pointing and giggling. I figured they were probably checking me out, and ignored them and turned back to Courtney.

"Hey look guys, looks like the sheep finally got sheared!" I turned around and realized that it was the blond one that spoke, before the group erupted into laughter. I turned to look at Courtney, whose face flushed in utter embarrassment before tears pooled in there again.

"Can we just leave? Please?" she begged quietly.

"Aw, look she's trying to hide! Don't worry; the short look is what all the whores are wearing now! Don't you think it's suitable?" the blonde called out again, and I turned to Courtney in disbelief.

"She's not talking to you, is she?" I asked, appalled that one girl could cause so much drama. Courtney mutely nodded, asking if we could just leave again. I shook my head no and told her that I would take care of the situation, putting the text books down on the ground next to her. I briskly walked over to the clique, furious as hell. How dare someone made fun of my Courtney like that. No wonder she wanted to quit so badly. And the mood swings from the pregnancy probably didn't make the situation much better either.

"Can I help you?" the blonde bitch asked, flipping her hair. So this was the cow who had stuck the gum in my Princess's hair. The dumb bitch was probably just jealous. I wished I could attack her right then and there, but I couldn't. No matter how much I wanted to, it was wrong to hit a girl. It wasn't what I was raised to do, and it was downright cruel, but damn if it wasn't tempting to forget all about that sometimes.

"Yeah, you can. What's your problem with Courtney?" I demanded and she merely laughed harder, flipping back her hair again.

"What's yours? She's a fucking whore; it's about time she got rid of the innocent look," the girl snickered, glancing past me and at Courtney. My hands had balled into fists by then and had she been male….

"What're you talking about?" I hissed.

"You've seen her around school, the way she constantly flipped her hair and the long locks made her look so innocent. She's not. She has fucking kids, and is a fucking whore! I'm sick and tired of it, and now she finally got what was coming for her," the girl said smugly, her followers laughing behind her.

"You...you mean you were the one who made her cut her hair?"

"Of course I was. Damn bitch was always so vain about her looks. A simple call to my cousin took care of everything. She didn't expect nothing either," by this point she was no longer talking to me, but more recounting the story to her friends. "So, I called my cousin and who knew? the bitch was getting her hair done over at her salon. I tried to get my cousin to chop it all off, but being the goody goody she is, she started complaining about how she could lose her job, and blah blah blah, so she just ended up maiming her. I mean, look at the result! Her hair is gone! I'm victorious!" she cheered as I started to see red. God, I'd just about had enough of this bitch. My blood was boiling now more than ever, and I didn't even care about the 'don't hit girls' rule. Nobody messes with my princess and gets away with it. I was about to step forward when I noticed a low growling coming from behind me.

What happened next was absolutely amazing. Apparently, Court had heard every single thing this damn girl said. I don't know whether it was the mood swings, or her regular temper, but she lost it. She went straight up and socked the girl right in her tiny nose. I was positive that she broke it, recognizing the sound made, and knew it would be ruined for life. Blood spurted everywhere, but Courtney wasn't finished yet. She jumped on the girl and to say the least, kicked her royal ass. As the commotion was really beginning to heat up, I had to pull Courtney away; kicking and screaming that she wasn't finished yet.

"Court, calm down," I tried to tell her before adding on, "Do you have any gum?" She started screaming at me for being so impudent at a moment like this but dug into her purse and pulled out a stick of gum. I began to chew on the large piece and put Courtney down, walking up to the screaming and complaining girl.

"Get the fuck away! Can't you see my nose is broken!" I ignored her and grabbed a smoothie out of one of her clones' hands. I spit the sticky gum into the smoothie and promptly dumped it on the bitch's head. Perfect and true to the plan, the gum fell precisely onto the top of her head. She screamed at me, not even noticing the gum and only paying attention to the drying smoothie.

"Next time you mess with Courtney, make sure her husband isn't with her," I growled, turning to wrap my arm around Courtney's waist and walking her to the car. She remained silent, from shock or from nothing to say, I didn't know. After simply sitting in the car for about ten minutes, I decided to break the silence.

"You okay?" I asked and she nodded mutely, looking ashamed of herself.

"Are you disappointed in me?' she suddenly asked, eyes downcast.

"Not at all," I said with a small chuckle. "I'm actually quite proud of you. It's about damn time you stood up for yourself." She smiled and nodded, looking slightly smug.

"Wanna go celebrate?" Courtney stayed silent next to me before letting out a sigh and smiling up at me.

"Yup."


	22. Bye Bye Daddy

**Hey guys..., so this would've been updated about two days ago, but a freak storm hit us, and we were out of power for two days...so yeah. I hope you like this chapter, and if not, you'll like the next chappie for sure!**

**Okay, apparently, according to my dear friend heartandstar101, somebody, yet again, plagiarized one of my stories; this time, it's Prinzessin, which pisses me off to no extent. What makes it even worse is that I _CAN'T_ find it! Grrr... So, who wants to help me find it and kill this off? Anybody? PLEASE! IT'S MY POOR BABY! *sobs***

Adjusting to home-life was much easier than I expected. Duncan had been home and helped me adjust to the kid's hectic routines and daycare schedules. It felt amazing to sleep in late and not to feel rushed in the morning. Words couldn't even describe how I felt when I was able to spend time with my kids and watch them grow and learn. Everything was just about back to normal.

I sat at the dining room table, hunched over my laptop, browsing through numerous sites to find good ideas for the twins' upcoming birthday. I wanted to be able to throw them a party, but the problem was how expensive it would be. I knew we didn't have enough money in our budget, but I really wanted to throw the kids their first birthday party.

"Hey, Babe. What are you up to?" a voice I recognized as my husband's asked as he came to sit next to me. I sighed and closed the laptop, figuring that there would be no point wasting my time hoping for something financially impossible.

"Thinking about the twins' birthday. I wanted to throw them a party, but I don't think it's possible. Maybe next year," I concluded, my voice somewhat melancholy as I bit back a sigh.

"Yeah, I know you want to, but it really isn't possible. Next year, I promise," Duncan assured me, and this time I did sigh. That was the answer to everything for financial problems currently. But since I had willingly quit school and agreed to finish my education online, at a later time, there was nothing I could complain about without sounding selfish and hypocritical. So I simply nodded and took a sip of my water before continuing to talk.

"So, tomorrow's the big day, huh?" Duncan grinned and nodded, pure joy highlighting every feature on his face.

"You excited?" he asked, sounding quite excited about it himself. I could lie and say that I was excited for him finally going off to work, but really, what was there for me to be excited about? We had come up with the arrangement that he would drive over to work early every Monday morning, and he would return home every Friday evening. So, we would see him for three days, every week. I was most certainly not happy about this arrangement, but I didn't want to spoil his fun.

"Yeah. It's gonna be great for you Duncan, really." His eyes appraised me for about five seconds before he began to smirk. That man could read me like an open book, something I was determined to change for the upcoming future.

"You're lying. It's okay to admit that you'll miss me," he cheekily yet softly replied, looking me dead in the eye. What a preposterous statement; of course I would miss him, he was my husband after all.

"Of course I'll miss you. But really, I'm happy for you," I half lied, stroking his cheek.

"That's good to hear. Have you told the twins yet?" I cringed, hoping I could just skip that part. If I did tell them, I knew there would be hell to pay, followed by screams and tears of all varieties. Especially from Alex; the girl was obsessed with her father, and vice versa with him. She had him wrapped around her little finger. She must have easily picked the trait up from me, you can't blame genetics.

"Hmm, we can't just skip that part? I think you know what will happen if we do tell them," I warned Duncan and he sighed, running his hand down his face.

"Trust me, I've thought about this a lot and it keeps me up at night," my husband muttered, scratching along his growing stubble in a nervous matter.

"Well we'll have to do something; it's not like you can just leave before telling them," I said before my eyes narrowed and I pointed an accusing finger at Duncan. "I'll kill you if you do that."

"Don't worry Princess; I have no intentions of doing that. It's just… how do I break something like this to them? How do I tell my kids that from now on I won't be able to see them except on the weekends?" Duncan whispered, his eyes drooping with distress. It was only then that I fully realized what leaving the kids meant to Duncan. While I had been at school, Duncan had spent every waking hour with the kids and had been there to see them grow and flourish, only to have to leave them now. He would only see them for a little more than forty-two hours a week, and the possibility that they would soon start to think negatively of him for 'neglecting' them was more than likely to arise. My face softened immediately as I drew back my pointed finger and took Duncan's hands in mine.

"No one ever said this was going to be easy Duncan; any of this. But we have each other and, though it may not seem like it for a while, we have the love of our children and if we remember that we'll make it through this," I tried to assure Duncan, but he kept quiet.

"It's the first time I'll be away from the twins for more than a couple of days," he finally said and I felt my heart break for him because of how truly sad and lost he looked; it was scary. For all the years that I've known Duncan, he's always been so brave and strong and ready to take on anything… but now… I wasn't sure what to make of how Duncan was acting.

"We knew from the beginning that this would be hard Duncan, for both of us, but if you don't do this… our family…." I trailed off, swallowing as I tried not to think about all the things that could happen to us if things didn't pick up financially. Especially with a baby on the way.

"Hey, look at me Courtney," Duncan told me, and I lifted my head to meet his gaze. "Nothing bad is going to our family, alright? I'm going to keep us together and everything will be fine," he said and I nodded, trying my hardest to believe what he was telling me.

"I sure hope you're right," I croaked out, trying my best to smile at my husband. Duncan just smiled back softly at me before leaning forward and kissing me sweetly. I couldn't help but melt into the kiss, trying to remember the last time Duncan had kissed me this way. When the kiss ended, I looked up at Duncan with dazed eyes only to see his smirk and sober up immediately.

"Pig," I muttered, shoving against his chest half-heartedly.

"You know you love me for it," he said smugly and I just stuck my tongue out at him.

"Yeah yeah, now go talk to the kids," I said, quickly pushing Duncan in the direction of the playing twins. He looked back at me with pleading eyes, but I just crossed my arms and nodded my head in the direction of our kids.

From where I was standing against the wall, I couldn't make out what Duncan was saying to the kids; I could only hope that it wasn't anything too harsh or a lie of some sort because they deserved to know the truth… or at least a little brighter version of the truth. It didn't take long for disappointment and sadness to take over the twin's features as Duncan pulled them both into his arms for a hug. There were tears running down the faces of my children as they cried in their father's arms and I couldn't help but get choked up, my mind thinking up the worse case scenarios that could happen thanks to Duncan's new job.

_No, everything will be fine_, I assured myself, sucking in a deep breath before leaving the room. I couldn't stand to see any more of them because I realized that my good bye to Duncan would probably be that much harder.

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When Duncan walked out of the bathroom, I realized two things; one, he'd cut and dyed his hair into that beyond missed mohawk (although when he was able to do this I didn't know, it must've been when I was putting the kids to bed), and two, I had absolute no _clue_ how I was _ever_ going to be able to say goodbye to him. Just looking at his sexy, smirking face put butterflies into my stomach and I didn't know how I would be able to stand five days without it greeting me in the morning, or putting me to sleep at night.

He made his way over to the bed and noticed how my eyes had widened when taking in his new appearance, and smirked. I couldn't help but blush and stop staring at him as soon as he took the seat next to me.

"S-so...I see you decided to get the hawk back," I stammered, looking anywhere but his face. He merely chuckled and from my peripheral vision I saw him fondly run a hand through the aforementioned mohawk.

"It was about time, I just kept stalling and I just finally set my mind to it and did it. You like?" I could feel my face flush with heat but I ignored it and unbashfully crawled towards him and pushed my body against his, feeling him shiver in anticipation.

"I _love_. It's very...," I paused to climb further up his chest, finally reaching his face where to blow in his ear, taking pleasure in the fact that he shivered yet again.

"V-very what?" he reminded me with a raspy voice, and I smirked, sticking my tongue out and daring to suck on his earlobe.

"Very..._sexy_." That was all the encourage he needed to turn into the wild savage he was, crushing my body against his with a need that very appropriately sated my own.

For the time being, I forgot that he was to be leaving tomorrow morning. Right now, all that mattered was the fact that I was under him, both of us needing each other to a great amount.

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"I don't want you to leave," I whispered, curled up against Duncan's body with my head resting on his naked chest. Pressing up against him further, I could better hear the sound of his heart beating and it made me feel safe; like as long as I could hear his heart beat everything would be okay and nothing bad could happen.

"Trust me Courtney, I don't want to go either, especially since I just got you back full time, but it's what we need to do if we want to stay happy," Duncan told me, speaking just as softly. Talking loud right now just seemed so out of place in the dark quiet of our room; besides, my throat was a little sore from our recent _activities._

"Money doesn't buy happiness Duncan," I mumbled against his skin.

"Yeah, but money buys food and our house and the kids education so we need money. I'm pretty sure your parents would kill me if they found out that after marrying me and having my kids we became a family of hobos," Duncan said and I couldn't help but laugh at the image despite how sad the thought truly was. Biting my lip, I couldn't help but think that my parents wouldn't even care if we have become that sort of family. Not that they would bother to check up on us.

"Fine, leave then but you owe me big time when you're home for the weekends," I demanded and the vibrations of Duncan's chest as he laughed tickled the side of my face.

"I can do that. I'll spend the days with the kids and at night…." He trailed off then and I looked up to see him smirking over me.

"What?" I asked before letting out a small shriek when I was suddenly rolled over so that I was on my back and Duncan was hovering over me.

"At night," he whispered, dipping his head and letting his lips trail over mine before traveling down my jaw and along my neck. "At night you're _mine_," Duncan growled and I felt a tremor work its way through my body as heat pooled in between my legs.

"Does that count for this night too?" I asked, my voice breathy as my body started to quiver with anticipation.

"It counts for every night," Duncan whispered to me, leaning down and kissing my lips softly. "Every night for as long as we both live, and then more. Isn't that what I promised when I married you?" I felt tears start to build up in my eyes at his words despite the perverted underlying meaning that he planned to have sex with me every night. It was the every night part, every night and beyond that that made my heart clench in a happy yet painful way.

_He wants to stay with me forever,_ I thought blissfully before wrapping my arms around Duncan's neck and pulling him down for a kiss.

_God I love this man._

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As I packed up my bag for my week away from home, I couldn't help but to move as slowly as possible. The last thing I wanted to do was leave Courtney and the kids, but if I didn't then our future really didn't look all that bright and happy.

_It's just for a week_, I tried to reassure myself, and just as I was starting to feel better about my trip to come, I remembered that I'd be doing the same thing next week and my mood was down all over again.

"You're not finished packing yet?" I turned around to see Courtney standing in the doorway of our room. She looked tired, dark circles under her eyes showing an obvious lack of sleep. I don't think either of us really slept all that much last night even after we had made love and were both tired, we just held each other as I tried not to think about having to sleep without her for the next four nights.

"Trying to get rid of me?" I asked, attempting to smile at my wife but finding that I couldn't.

"Never," she whispered, stepping into the room and pausing before she finally walked over to my side. I wrapped my arms around Courtney and pulled her against my chest, burying my face into her hair as I breathed into her scent and tried to tell myself that everything would be okay.

"It's only for a few days," I choked out, not caring that I was letting my emotions get the better of me. A few years ago, I would never think that something like going away for a couple of days would get me so worked up, but a few years ago I didn't have Courtney and my beautiful kids; God, so much has changed since I met the woman in my arms.

"And then you'll just be gone again," Courtney whimpered out and I held her tighter as she started to shake.

"But then I'll be back again Baby," I tried to tell her but Courtney just shook her head against my chest.

"Only to leave me again!" she sobbed, pulling out of my arms suddenly as she stared up at me with angry red eyes. I understood then, just why Courtney was so upset about all of this. And though part of it may have just been the mood swings working into full overdrive, I knew another part of it was something more.

"Courtney, Baby, is that what this is all about?" I asked softly and she refused to look at me as she nodded. Slowly, because I wasn't exactly sure if she wanted to be held, I stepped towards Courtney and held out my arms for her. It took her a moment, but she finally walked into my awaiting hold and wrapped her arms around my waist.

"I'm just so scared that one time you just won't come back; you'll just stay there and fall in love with someone else that is prettier and doesn't have as many problems as me, not to mention, that I'm pregnant, and I'm going to be as big as a cow again, and I'm going to be all cranky and bitchy and hungry and whiny," Courtney cried against my chest, hiccuping in between her words. I felt my heart break upon realizing just how much I had put her through when I left her after finding out about Matt; never before had I realized the scar that had left Courtney with.

"Courtney that will never happen; I swear to you that I'm going to be coming back," I told her but she didn't seem to be buying it. She merely ignored my words as she kept on crying, mumbling situations that in her mind could happen while I was away, but were really very far from reality; sometimes I really killed to know what went on inside her jumbled up head of hers.

"Yeah, whatever you say," she sniffled, yanking herself out of my arms and turning so her back was facing me. I rubbed her shoulders softly, not really knowing how to convince her that I was never going to forget about her. I mean really, I'm gonna be gone for like five days; I can't just forget about the love of my life in that short of a time span, though honestly I don't think I'll ever be able to forget about Courtney.

"Princess, don't be like that. Just chill, and the week will go by quickly, okay? I'm not going to forget about you. In fact, I think that I'm going to have to try really, really hard just to stay at work, and not to drive back home," I tried to reason, putting my arms around her for extra measure. She turned around and hugged me again, burying her head in my chest. I didn't say anything as to not ruin the moment and simply stroked my fingers along her lower back.

"Are you sure you're not just saying that?" Instead of answering her, I simply tilted her chin up with my fingers and kissed her sweetly. She wrapped her arms around my neck and deepened the kiss, knowing that it would most likely be the last we would share for five days. I kicked aside whatever was at my feet and gripped Courtney's legs as she jumped and wrapped them around my waist. Her hands cradled my face as I deepened the kiss even further and carried her to the bed. I set her down and set to kissing her jaw when I stopped suddenly, much to her confusion.

"Duncan...c'mon...what's one more time?" she asked, rocking her hips in a manner that made my mouth water slightly.

"I...I can't. What if the kids come in?" I heard Courtney groan as I flipped around and lay beside her on the bed, taking her hand in mine and stroking it fondly. As if on cue, squeaks could be heard from the doorway. I knew I didn't have to say anything as I sat up and merely opened my arms for the twins to run into. It took about three milliseconds before both Devon and Alex were in my arms, crying their eyes out.

"Daddy don't go," Alex sobbed, reacting much better than I thought she would've; knowing her, I expected a beyond loud tantrum filled with screams that could rival even Courtney's screams. I could do nothing but stroke her hair and rub Devon's back as they kept right on crying.

"I'm sorry Lexi, but I have to if you want to keep all your pretty dresses and toys-"

"But I'd rather be with you! I don't care about stupid toys! Daddy don't go! Stay here!" she sobbed, while I could do nothing but hand Devon to Courtney and hug Alex tightly against me. It took all my strength not to cry myself as I handed her to Courtney as well and continued to pack my clothes. I couldn't turn back while I heard both my kids whining and crying behind me as I continued packing, finally finishing within a couple of minutes and turning to face my depressed family.

"Well, guys, I guess this is goodbye...for now." It took about three seconds before Alex attached herself to one leg, Devon to the other.

"Daddy don't go!"

"Stay here!"

"I want to babies, trust me, but I can't," I tried to explain but the twins didn't understand and only started crying harder. I looked down at them sadly before daring to glance at Courtney. The look on her face, that of adoration but so much pain, it made me feel like the lowest scum on the planet for putting her through so much.

_It's for the best; I need to do this for my family._

"I should go; I uh, don't wanna get stuck in traffic or anything," I muttered lamely, reaching down and prying the twins' grips off of my legs.

"Daddy please! Don't you love us?" Alex sobbed and I stiffened as Courtney gasped from her seat on the bed.

"Of course I do Lexi," I choked out, blinking furiously as I stepped away from my crying children.

"Then why are you leaving us?" Devon cried and I stood silent for a moment before taking in a shaky breath.

"I'll see you all Friday night," I whispered before turning and leaving behind my family.

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Driving away from my home knowing that my kids, and most likely now Courtney as well, were in there crying was probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life. The whole drive to work I felt sick to my stomach and like the worst person alive because I had just left behind my family.

_You need to do this, it's for the best, _I tried to assure myself, but it didn't make me want to slam on the breaks and turn around any less. If anything it just made me feel like less of a man because I wasn't able to take care of my family without being away from them. Yes it's a stupid reason to hate the situation that I'm currently stuck in, but right now all I can see is the downside of leaving. I don't yet see how leaving will be good for our family or how it's for the best and that I'm doing the right thing; all I see is that I'm hurting the ones I love and I have to be away from them for almost a whole week. And I can't keep away from my thoughts the fear that when I come back my children will hate me and Courtney will be mad at me.

"Everything will be fine, stop trying to freak yourself out about this," I growled aloud as I pulled up in front of my shop. It took me a couple of minutes but finally I willed myself to stop the car and unbuckle my seatbelt.

"This is bull," I muttered before throwing open my car door and practically jumping out. With shaking hands, something I will never admit to anyone else that I had, I unlocked the front door of my shop and slowly pushed open the door. It was dark and kinda dusty inside, but I really shouldn't have expected anything else seeing as no one else has keys to the shop and I don't have any employees that would be inside and keeping it clean.

"Shit," I murmured, running my hand through my messy mohawk. No employees. Why the hell hadn't I thought of that sooner and put up some want posters around town?

_It's fine, I can handle this first week on my own. Everything is going to be fine, _I assured myself while taking in some deep breaths. _Chances are that there won't be a lot of people, if any, coming by the store today so I'll have time to set up and make posters and hopefully get more business going tomorrow._

With that game plan in mind, I closed the front door and headed towards the back of my shop where all the boxes full of my clothes were. I had just planned to pull the boxes out into the main room and get to work on sorting them and putting them on display, but I found that walking into the backroom with the couch in it was a lot harder than I had originally thought. The moment I had walked into the back room all I could think of was Claire and how I had almost completely betrayed Courtney out of hurt and jealousy. Just thinking about the blonde temptress made my blood start to boil as I narrowed my eyes at the couch like the whole thing was its fault. No, I knew the truth; I knew that everything with Claire was my fault and that if Courtney ever found out abut it, it could seriously damage our marriage.

_Nothing even happened so as long as you don't slip up, she'll never find out, _my subconscious assured me and while I felt bad, I just accepted that it was the only way to protect Courtney from what I had done to her. Although I don't know in details what she did with _Matt_, I know that she didn't do anything bad exactly and I couldn't help but fear that I didn't fall underneath that same category because I had gotten with Claire to get back at Courtney.

"Work Duncan, just get some work done," I ordered myself and so, pushing everything else out of my mind, I got to work. For the next five days I worked and by the time I was locking up the shop and preparing to drive home I had everything in the shop organized, clothes set out on display, a want poster posted against the inside of the door's window, and numerous posters also posted around the nearby town. My leaving hopes were that I'd have messages on the store's phone about people seeking employment when I returned on Monday because then at least I would know that leaving my family hadn't been for nothing.

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_Will they be happy to see me? Or still mad at me for leaving? _I couldn't help but wonder as I turned down onto the street my home was on. The whole drive home I had been sick to my stomach with worry and a couple of times I actually had to pull over and force myself to breathe because I was freaking myself out to the point where I had difficulty driving. The last thing I need is to get into another car accident when racing home from work to see Courtney and my kids… but then again I could always use that as a sign that I _shouldn't _be working so far away from my family and that finding employment closer was the best thing to do.

_That's not true though because this week went great and you've made it home safely, _my subconscious pointed out and I couldn't help but sigh as I pulled into the driveway of my home.

The first thing I noticed upon walking up to the front door was that the porch light was off meaning that they were obviously still mad at me seeing as they just technically left me out here in the dark. My stomach twisted in painful knots as I unlocked the front door with shaky hands, completely prepared to either face an angry Courtney or empty house with a note on the counter saying that Courtney had taken the kids and left. Neither option sounded good, but I knew which one I'd choose over the other in a heart beat.

Opening the door though, I found neither of those options awaiting me. All the lights were off and the house was silent, except there was a flickering light coming from the kitchen. I paused hesitantly before sniffing the air and smelling the faint aroma of smoke as my eyes went wide and I dropped everything in my arms and raced for the kitchen. My heart was pounding wildly the whole while I was trying to get to the source of the scent and I couldn't help but fear that something had happened to the kids even though I should have realized logically that there would have to be a lot more fire and smoke to have actual damage happen to anyone and that the house's fire alarm would be going off if there was that amount of flame and smoke. Inside the kitchen though, there were no bursting flames and I actually found myself lost of breath as I stared at my two sleepy eyed children sitting in their mother's lap in front of a lit cake resting on the table.

"Daddy!" they cried in unison, jumping out of Courtney's hold as they practically _flew _to me. I didn't even have to think about opening up my arms as they did so automatically and I scooped my children up in my arms as they giggled and cried.

"We missed you daddy," Devon told me and I felt all of my worries and unease start to melt away as my children smothered me in love and told me how happy they were to have me home.

"I missed you too babies," I choked out, not even caring that I was getting so worked up. These are my kids, damnit; I haven't seen them in five days and right now I don't care what anyone thinks so long as I get to hold them.

"The cake was their ideas; I supervised of course," Courtney spoke up softly, standing awkwardly alongside the table as if she wasn't sure where she belonged in this moment.

"And it looks delicious," I said, kissing each of my children as I slowly put them down on the ground. Never taking my eyes away from hers, I made my way over to Courtney until I was standing not even a foot in front of her. I waited for her to make her move because I knew what I wanted and that was to hold her and kiss her breathless, but it was sometimes so hard to tell what Courtney wanted and I didn't want to push her buttons the wrong way after just getting home.

"We missed you daddy," she whispered before throwing her arms around my neck and crying softly against my shoulder. I accepted the hug at once and quickly wrapped my arms around Courtney's waist to bring her as close to me as possible as I breathed in her scent and smiled.

"I missed you too babies," I copied the children as well and Courtney laughed in my arms. When her hold on me started to loosen, I allowed myself to pull away slightly and gently place a hand on her stomach. I felt Courtney's smile against my neck as I gently rubbed her stomach which was still too flat to show any sign of being pregnant.

"Cake time Daddy!" Alex cheered, tugging at the bottom of my shirt. Both Courtney and I laughed at how eager she was as we separated just enough to look down at our jumping children.

"I dunno, maybe tomorrow?" I asked and their faces went blank for a second before they quickly started shaking their heads so hard that I was sure one of them was going to throw out their neck or something.

"No! Now!" they ordered and I threw up my hands in surrender.

"Alright, but just one small piece for _me _and then you too munchkins are off to bed; it's way past your bed time," I told the twins and they quickly changed from shaking to nodding as each of them grabbed one of my hands and actually kinda pulled me to the seat with the cake in front of it. Courtney was smiling as she brought over a knife, plate, and fork as I took in the appearance of my cake in further detail. I figured that Courtney was the one that actually made the cake and frosting before allowing the twins to have their way with the frosting of my cake and they certainly went to town on it.

The main frosting was purple, which I figured had been Alex's idea, and it was heavier in some places while in others I think they just completely skipped because there were just bare places were the actual cakes could be seen. Of course the top of the cake was where all the little decorations were and amongst the almost illegible 'welcome home daddy!' was a cat, tree with a whole in it, a rabbit, and a fire truck? I honestly couldn't tell that well about the last one, but either way the decorations seemed pretty random and all obviously done by my beautiful children. When Courtney cut into the cake, I noticed that she made sure to find a place to cut that wouldn't get into any of the kids' wonderful pictures and she thankfully gave me a pretty small piece.

"Is it good, is it good?" Devon demanded and I lifted a bite to my mouth before taking it in and smiling softly at my children.

"The best cake I've ever had," I told them and it really was. And as I got further into the piece the twins tried to stay awake, but I could tell they were quickly falling asleep and about half way through the piece I decided it was time for them to go to bed.

"But we wanna stay awake with you," Alex mumbled against my shoulder as I carried her and her brother back to their room. I smiled and kissed her droopy head, knowing that I wanted the exact same thing.

"I know Baby, I know, but the faster you go to sleep, the faster we can spend time together in the morning. In fact, I'll even make you waffles, with syrup and strawberries and everything you want." Immediately I felt her gasp and squeeze her eyes shut. If anything in this world was to make her fall asleep, the promise of waffles in the morning was the only known thing so far to make it work.

I quickly put both the twins into bed with kisses and the promise of silly games and waffles in the morning, then headed straight to our bedroom where I knew Courtney would be waiting. Sure enough, she was sitting up in bed, dressed in some lacy outfit which I couldn't help but purr at. She blushed and smiled at me and it was only a mere matter of seconds before she was in my arms once more and together we were made one.


End file.
